Prehospital and disaster medicine
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Jun 2020
Global Characteristics of Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Poison Use in Terrorist Attacks.
Chemical, biological, and radiological (CBR) terrorism continues to be a global threat. Studies examining global and historical toxicological characteristics of CBR terrorism are lacking. ⋯ This study showed that CBR terrorism is an on-going and increasingly recorded global threat involving diverse groups of poisons with additional harmful mechanisms and disguise. Industrial chemicals were used in chemical attacks. Vigilance and preparedness are needed for future CBR threats.
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Jun 2020
Prehospital Disposition and Patient Outcomes in Cardiac Arrest AFTER Resuscitation Termination Protocol Change in an Urban Setting.
Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a leading cause of death in the United States, and efforts have been made to develop termination of resuscitation protocols utilizing clinical criteria predictive of successful resuscitation and survival to discharge. A termination of resuscitation protocol utilizing longer resuscitation time and end-tidal carbon dioxide (EtCO2) monitoring criteria for termination was implemented for Emergency Medical Service (EMS) providers in an urban prehospital system in 2017. This study examines the effect the modified termination of resuscitation protocol had on rates of patient transport to a hospital, return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), and survival to discharge. ⋯ The modification of termination of resuscitation protocol was not associated with a statistically significant change in transport rate or survival. A significant decrease in rate of arrivals to the ED with ROSC was seen, particularly for bystander witnessed OHCA.
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Jun 2020
Declining Public Health Protections within Autocratic Regimes: Impact on Global Public Health Security, Infectious Disease Outbreaks, Epidemics, and Pandemics.
Public health emergencies of international concern, in the form of infectious disease outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics, represent an increasing risk to the world's population. Management requires coordinated responses, across many disciplines and nations, and the capacity to muster proper national and global public health education, infrastructure, and prevention measures. Unfortunately, increasing numbers of nations are ruled by autocratic regimes which have characteristically failed to adopt investments in public health infrastructure, education, and prevention measures to keep pace with population growth and density. ⋯ A cross section of autocratic nations currently experiencing the impact of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) are reviewed to demonstrate the manner where self-serving regimes fail to manage health crises and place the rest of the world at increasing risk. It is time to re-address the pre-SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) global agendas calling for stronger strategic capacity, legal authority, support, and institutional status under World Health Organization (WHO) leadership granted by an International Health Regulations Treaty. Treaties remain the most successful means the world has in preventing, preparing for, and controlling epidemics in an increasingly globalized world."Honesty is worth a lot more than hope…" The Economist, February 17, 2020.
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Jun 2020
Observational StudyPrehospital Vital Signs Accurately Predict Initial Emergency Department Vital Signs.
Prehospital vital signs are used to triage trauma patients to mobilize appropriate resources and personnel prior to patient arrival in the emergency department (ED). Due to inherent challenges in obtaining prehospital vital signs, concerns exist regarding their accuracy and ability to predict first ED vitals. ⋯ Despite challenges in prehospital assessments, field GCS, SBP, and HR correlate well with first ED vital signs. The data show that these prehospital measurements accurately predict initial ED vitals in an urban setting with short transport times. The generalizability of these data to settings with longer transport times is unknown.
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Jun 2020
Drug and Alcohol Related Patient Presentations to Emergency Departments during Sporting Mass-Gathering Events: An Integrative Review.
Drug and alcohol consumption at sporting mass-gathering events (MGEs) has become part of the spectator culture in some countries. The direct and indirect effects of drug and alcohol intoxication at such MGEs has proven problematic to in-event health services as well as local emergency departments (EDs). With EDs already under significant strain from increasing patient presentations, resulting in access block, it is important to understand the impact of sporting and other MGEs on local health services to better inform future planning and provision of health care delivery. ⋯ Drug and alcohol intoxication has varying levels of impact on PPR, TTHR, and ED presentation numbers depending on the type of sporting MGE. More research is needed to understand if drug and alcohol intoxication alone influences PPR, TTHR, and ED presentations or if it is multifactorial. Inconsistent data collection and reporting methods make it challenging to compare different sporting MGEs and propose generalizations. It is imperative that future studies adopt more consistent methods and report drug and alcohol data to better inform resource allocation and care provision.