Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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To explore hospital characteristics and indicators of emergency department (ED) care of older patients associated with return visits to the ED. ⋯ In general, more limited ED resources and indicators of ED care (weekend visits, fewer available hospital beds) are associated with return ED visits in seniors, although the magnitude of the effects is generally small.
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An estimate of a child's weight is required for critical interventions, particularly pharmacotherapy. Weight measurement is not always practical, so weight estimation methods are used. Recently, a new weight estimation formula was suggested. The Argall formula estimates weight in kilograms as follows: (age in years + 2) x 3. ⋯ The Argall weight estimation formula has poor accuracy for weight estimation in Australian children, in particular those weighing more than 35 kg.
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To characterize older adult emergency department (ED) visits arriving by emergency medical services (EMS) and to identify factors associated with those patient visits. ⋯ Older adults account for a large proportion of EMS responses and use EMS at a disproportionately high rate. As the older adult population grows, EMS systems must prepare for the increased volume of older adults by making changes in training, operations, and equipment.
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To determine whether heart rate variability (HRV) measures can be used to predict which septic patients in the emergency department (ED) will progress to septic shock. ⋯ HRV measures may be used to identify septic ED patients with impending septic shock. Among those HRV measures, root mean square successive difference seems to be the best indicator to predict the occurrence of septic shock.