Prehospital and disaster medicine
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Mar 2009
Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: first documented experience in a Mexican urban setting.
Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is one of the leading causes of death in Mexico, but many survival and prognostic factors are unknown. The aim of this study was to assess out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in a Mexican city. ⋯ The poor survival rate in this study emphasizes the need to improve efforts in provider training and public education. Authorities must promote actions to enhance prehospital emergency services capabilities, shorten response times, and provide community education to increase the chances of survival for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest victims in Mexico.
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Mar 2009
Ethical considerations for emergency care providers during pandemic influenza--ready or not...
When an infectious pandemic occurs in the United States, emergency care providers (ECPs) will be on the frontlines caring for infected, potentially infected, and non-infected patients. Logistically, the current emergency care system is not ready for a pandemic, but are the providers ethically ready? Some of the most difficult and challenging issues that will be raised during a pandemic will be ethical in nature. An ECP likely will be confronted with ethical values and value conflicts underlying restriction of liberty, duty to care, and resource allocation. This report summarizes the ethical concerns and challenges that ECPs face during an infectious pandemic, and raises ethical questions that may arise related to the role of an ECP as a healthcare provider and stakeholder.