Pediatric emergency care
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Pediatric emergency care · Oct 2007
ReviewStrategies to improve flow in the pediatric emergency department.
As emergency departments (EDs) experience overcrowding, there is ever-growing pressure to improve patient flow. We present a review of strategies to increase efficiency of patient inflow, throughput, and output in the ED, with an emphasis on approaches that are under greater control of the ED itself and therefore more amenable to implementation without major institutional changes.
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Pediatric emergency care · Oct 2007
Comparative StudyRetrospective comparison of emergency department length of stay for procedural sedation and analgesia by nurse practitioners and physicians.
To determine if use of nurse practitioners (NPs) for procedural sedation and analgesia (PSA) compared with physicians (MDs) decreased overall length of stay (LOS) in the pediatric emergency department (PED). ⋯ Overall LOS and time to sedation were significantly improved when NPs independently managed patients requiring PSA without an increase in documented severe airway complication rates.
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Pediatric emergency care · Oct 2007
Case ReportsFrena tears and abusive head injury: a cautionary tale.
Tears of the lingual and labial frena have been associated with accidental and nonaccidental injury. Three cases of infants are presented who were evaluated in the hospital with frena tears which were not recognized as manifestations of abuse, discharged home, and subsequently returned with manifestations of severe abusive head injury.
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Pediatric emergency care · Oct 2007
Case ReportsAn asthmatic adolescent with a rash and eosinophilia.
Children frequently visit emergency departments with asthma exacerbations. Many of these asthmatic children may have fever and/or pneumonia, but when associated with eosinophilia or evidence of vasculitis, other diagnoses should be considered. ⋯ A delay in diagnosis and treatment may increase the morbidity from the complications of vasculitis. We report a young asthmatic adolescent who presented with vasculitis, eosinophilia, and peripheral neuropathy.
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Pediatric emergency care · Oct 2007
Emergency planning in school-based athletics: a national survey of athletic trainers.
To use nationally published guidelines to examine the preparedness of schools in the United States to respond to emergencies associated with school-based athletics. ⋯ Although schools are in compliance with many of the recommendations for school-based athletic emergency preparedness, specific areas for improvement include practicing the WEP several times a year, linking all areas of the school directly with emergency medical services, increasing the presence of athletic trainers at athletic events (especially sports with a higher rate of fatalities/injuries), regulating the care of and inspection of school facilities and fields, requiring the use of safety equipment (such as mouth guards and protective eye equipment), and increasing the availability of automatic electronic defibrillator in schools.