Prehospital and disaster medicine
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Feb 2018
Prehospital Modified HEART Score Predictive of 30-Day Adverse Cardiac Events.
Introduction The History, Electrocardiogram (ECG), Age, Risk Factors, and Troponin (HEART) score is a decision aid designed to risk stratify emergency department (ED) patients with acute chest pain. It has been validated for ED use, but it has yet to be evaluated in a prehospital setting. Hypothesis A prehospital modified HEART score can predict major adverse cardiac events (MACE) among undifferentiated chest pain patients transported to the ED.
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Feb 2018
Hospital-Confirmed Acute Myocardial Infarction: Prehospital Identification Using the Medical Priority Dispatch System.
Introduction Early recognition of an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) can increase the patient's likelihood of survival. As the first point of contact for patients accessing medical care through emergency services, emergency medical dispatchers (EMDs) represent the earliest potential identification point for AMIs. The objective of the study was to determine how AMI cases were coded and prioritized at the dispatch point, and also to describe the distribution of these cases by patient age and gender. Hypothesis/Problem No studies currently exist that describe the EMD's ability to correctly triage AMIs into Advanced Life Support (ALS) response tiers.
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Feb 2018
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyVideo-Based Learning vs Traditional Lecture for Instructing Emergency Medicine Residents in Disaster Medicine Principles of Mass Triage, Decontamination, and Personal Protective Equipment.
Introduction Great demands have been placed on disaster medicine educators. There is a need to develop innovative methods to educate Emergency Physicians in the ever-expanding body of disaster medicine knowledge. The authors sought to demonstrate that video-based learning (VBL) could be a promising alternative to traditional learning methods for teaching disaster medicine core competencies. Hypothesis/Problem The objective was to compare VBL to traditional lecture (TL) for instructing Emergency Medicine residents in the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP; Irving, Texas USA) disaster medicine core competencies of patient triage and decontamination.
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Feb 2018
Observational StudyDisease and Non-Battle Traumatic Injuries Evaluated by Emergency Physicians in a US Tertiary Combat Hospital.
Introduction Analysis of injuries during military operations has focused on those related to combat. Non-combat complaints have received less attention, despite the need for many troops to be evacuated for non-battle illnesses in Iraq. This study aims to further characterize the disease and non-battle injuries (DNBIs) seen at a tertiary combat hospital and to describe the types of procedures and medications used in the management of these cases.
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Feb 2018
ReviewQuality Indicators for Evaluating Prehospital Emergency Care: A Scoping Review.
Introduction Historically, the quality and performance of prehospital emergency care (PEC) has been assessed largely based on surrogate, non-clinical endpoints such as response time intervals or other crude measures of care (eg, stakeholder satisfaction). However, advances in Emergency Medical Services (EMS) systems and services world-wide have seen their scope and reach continue to expand. This has dictated that novel measures of performance be implemented to compliment this growth. ⋯ Problem Quality indicators represent an increasingly popular component of health care quality and performance measurement. However, little is known about the development of QIs in the PEC environment. The purpose of this study was to assess the development and characteristics of PEC-specific QIs in the literature.