The American journal of emergency medicine
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Emergency department boarding and crowding lead to worse patient outcomes and patient satisfaction. ⋯ We implemented an academic emergency department to partner community hospital transfer program that safely level-loads medical patients in a healthcare system.
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Patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy are living longer and are increasingly seen in Emergency Departments. Though the most common cause of death remains progressive respiratory failure, increased life expectancies have unmasked the significance of progressive myocardial dysfunction, now associated with nearly 40% of mortalities in the DMD population. ⋯ Emergency physicians may encounter DMD patients with untreated, undiagnosed or worsening of known heart disease. This review will initially familiarize the emergency physician with the pathophysiology and lifetime trajectory of care for these patients before describing specific emergency department evaluation and treatment.
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Prior research has demonstrated the widespread presence of racial disparities in emergency department (ED) care and analgesia. We hypothesized that racial disparities continue to exist in ED analgesic prescribing patterns, time to analgesia, and time to provider in the treatment of headache. ⋯ Racial disparities persist in assessment and type of analgesia for patients being treated for headache in a large academic emergency department.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of an ultrasound-first clinical decision tool in emergency department patients with suspected nephrolithiasis: A randomized trial.
Previously, we found that the use of ultrasonography for patients with suspected nephrolithiasis resulted in similar outcomes and less radiation exposure vs. CT scan. In this study, we evaluated the implementation of an ultrasound-first clinical decision support (CDS) tool in patients with suspected nephrolithiasis. ⋯ Implementation of the US-first CDS tool resulted in lower CT use for ED patients with suspected nephrolithiasis. The use of this decision support may improve the evaluation of a common problem in the ED.
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The aim of this study is to evaluate the change in the number of EMS cases by comparing the lockdown period, the non-lockdown period, and the pre-pandemic period. ⋯ While the number of EMS cases decreased during the pandemic period, it decreased even more during the lockdown period. However, the number of calls increased significantly during the lockdown period, and the response times and talk times increased accordingly.