Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Effectiveness of 50% nitrous oxide/50% oxygen during laceration repair in children.
To determine the effect of an inhaled 50% nitrous oxide/50% oxygen mixture on measures of observed anxiety in children during laceration repair. ⋯ Administration of a 50% nitrous oxide/50% oxygen mixture to children during their laceration repair resulted in a significant decrease in measures of anxiety when compared with inhalation of 100% oxygen.
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To determine whether modifying work schedules from 24- to 12-hour shifts results in favorable improvements across a range of psychological and social variables among emergency medical technicians (EMTs). ⋯ Modifying EMTs' work schedules from 24- to 12-hour shifts was associated with improvements in EMTs' general attitudes toward their schedules, less disruption of social and family life, and decreased levels of emotional exhaustion at 2 months after the change. While the improvements in EMTs' attitudes toward their schedules persisted at the 1-year follow-up, the measure of emotional exhaustion returned to baseline.
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The ED of the future will require the effective integration of information technologies into clinical care. This article proposes strategies for improving information management in emergency medicine to facilitate patient care, public health surveillance, clinical research, medical education, and health care management.
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To determine whether the initial Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score is predictive of intubation difficulty in out-of-hospital airway management of poisoned patients. ⋯ Maximum difficulty of intubation is encountered in poisoned patients with 7 < or = GCS < or = 9. Intubation of such patients appears to be facilitated by appropriate sedation and/or neuromuscular blockade.