The American journal of emergency medicine
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A 22-year-old man was brought in by EMS for coma and respiratory failure. The initial diagnosis was an opioid overdose but the patient did not respond to naloxone. ⋯ Despite neurosurgical and ICU care, the patient did not recover. Cerebellitis is a seldom-discussed complication of opioid use which may become more common as the opioid and fentanyl epidemic evolves.
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Case Reports
Keep shocking: A case report of double sequential defibrillation for refractory ventricular fibrillation.
Double sequential defibrillation is proposed as a novel modality of managing refractory ventricular fibrillation (VF). However, existing evidence has not been enough to support this. Here, we report an interesting case of a 54-year-old male who suffered from cardiac arrest with VF rhythm. ⋯ He had another episode of VF unresponsive to thirty minutes of standard defibrillation on his way to the catheterization laboratory. Again, the VF was terminated by double sequential defibrillation. Five days later, the patient was discharged home without neurological sequels.
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Our objectives were to describe time intervals of EMS encounters for suspected stroke patients in North Carolina (NC) and evaluate differences in EMS time intervals by community socioeconomic status (SES) and rurality. ⋯ While community-level factors were not strongly associated with EMS response and scene times for stroke, transport times were significantly longer rural tracts and modestly shorter in low SES tracts, accounting for patient demographics. Further research is needed on the role of community socioeconomic deprivation and rurality in contributing to delays in prehospital stroke care.
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The COVID pandemic, which has caused high mortality rates worldwide, has mainly affected the working environment of healthcare workers. Metabolic and respiratory changes occur in healthcare workers working with surgical masks. ⋯ Regular and long-term use of surgical masks does not harm the body metabolically and respiratorily.