Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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To assess the out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) survival advantage after providing police with automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in rural and suburban Indiana. ⋯ Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival in suburban and rural Indiana did not improve after police were equipped with AEDs, likely related to poor police response.
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Comparative Study
Rapid development of brain hypothermia using femoral-carotid bypass.
Advances in the field of cardiopulmonary resuscitation have led to an increasing number of patients initially surviving sudden cardiac arrest. Unfortunately, most of these patients do not recover from the resultant anoxic brain insult. Several animal and human trials have suggested that post-resuscitative brain hypothermia may improve neurologic recovery after cardiopulmonary arrest. Present cooling methods are slow, induce only brain surface cooling, or result in systemic hypothermia. The authors tested the hypothesis that unilateral hypothermic carotid bypass would induce bilateral brain cooling without evoking systemic hypothermia or hemodynamic instability. ⋯ Femoral-carotid hypothermic bypass rapidly induced a state of selective brain hypothermia without causing systemic hypothermia or hemodynamic instability.
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To describe curling iron-related injuries reported to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) between January 1, 1992, and December 31, 1996. ⋯ The most common injury resulting from curling irons is thermal burns. The mechanisms and patterns of injury in developmentally distinct age groups suggest that many of these injuries could be prevented by public education and the re-engineering of curling irons.
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Case Reports Comparative Study
Electrocardiographic ST-segment elevation: correct identification of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and non-AMI syndromes by emergency physicians.
To determine the emergency physician's (EP's) ability to identify the cause of ST-segment elevation (STE) in a hypothetical chest pain patient. ⋯ In this survey, EPs were asked whether they would give TT based on limited information (ECG). Certain syndromes with STE were frequently misdiagnosed. Emergency physician electrocardiographic education must focus on the proper identification of these syndromes so that TT may be appropriately utilized.
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Small-bowel intussusception (SBI) for pediatric patients is unusual and difficult to diagnose preoperatively. This study sought to determine the sonographic findings of pediatric SBI. ⋯ Small-bowel intussusception is often over-looked due to nonspecific clinical presentations. Sonographic demonstration of a 2-3-cm sized, short, doughnut-like lesion, especially in the left abdomen or paraumbilical regions, should lead to strong suspicion of SBI.