Prehospital and disaster medicine
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To characterize the prevalence and morbidity of injuries to emergency medical technicians EMTs) in New England [United States]. ⋯ This survey begins to characterize the occupational risks of EMTs. The prevalence of back injuries, assault, stress, and extremity injuries seems to be too high. Educational programs and preventive interventions should be designed to minimize back injuries, stress, and assault. There is a need for more research nationwide in order to better characterize these injuries.
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Jan 1993
Telemedicine and international disaster response: medical consultation to Armenia and Russia via a Telemedicine Spacebridge.
The Telemedicine Spacebridge, a satellite-mediated, audio-video-fax link between four United States and two Armenian and Russian medical centers, permitted remote American consultants to assist Armenian and Russian physicians in the management of medical problems following the December 1988 earthquake in Armenia and the June 1989 gas explosion near Ufa. ⋯ These results suggest that interactive consultation by remote specialists can provide valuable assistance to on-site physicians and favorably influence clinical decisions in the aftermath of major disasters.
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Apr 1992
An analysis of invasive airway management in a suburban emergency medical services system.
Airway management is the most critical and potentially life-saving intervention performed by emergency medical service (EMS) providers. Invasive airway management often is required in non-cardiac-arrest patients who are combative or otherwise uncooperative. The success of prehospital invasive airway management in this patient population was evaluated. ⋯ Prehospital providers can intubate a high but improvable proportion of non-cardiac-arrested patients by both the orotracheal and nasotracheal routes. The use of pharmacologic adjuncts to facilitate the prehospital intubation of selected, non-cardiac-arrested patients is a promising adjunct that needs further evaluation.
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Jan 1992
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialInfant ventilation and oxygenation by basic life support providers: comparison of methods.
Little information is available in the performance of infant ventilation by basic life support (BLS) personnel. ⋯ For all subjects and those with a patent airway (n=36), there were no significant differences in the percentage of acceptable breaths produced by PBM (56+/-6) (mean+/-SEM; all subjects) and ABM (41+/-6.2) was significantly greater than M-Ma, with and without a patent airway. Although RR and the percentage of excessive breaths were not significantly different, the percentage of acceptable breaths and FiO 2 delivered with each ventilation method was significantly better in the patent airway group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)