Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Multicenter Study
Prehospital ultrasound by paramedics: results of field trial.
The objective was to determine if 9-1-1 paramedics trained in ultrasound (US) could adequately perform and interpret the Focused Assessment Sonography in Trauma (FAST) and the abdominal aortic (AA) exams in the prehospital care environment. ⋯ This pilot study shows that with close supervision, paramedics can adequately obtain and interpret prehospital FAST and AA US images under protocol. These results support a growing body of literature that indicates US may be feasible and useful in the prehospital setting.
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Multicenter Study
Multicenter study of preferences for health education in the emergency department population.
Emergency departments (EDs) are increasingly proposed as high-yield venues for providing preventive health education to a population at risk for unhealthy behaviors and unmet primary care needs. This study sought to determine the preferred health education topics and teaching modality among ED patients and visitors. ⋯ Emergency department patients and visitors were most interested in health education on stress, depression, exercise, and nutrition, compared to topics more commonly targeted to the ED population such as substance abuse, sexual health (including HIV testing), and injury prevention. Despite many recent innovations in health education, most ED patients and visitors in our study preferred the traditional form of books and brochures. Future ED health education efforts may be optimized by taking into account the learning preferences of the target ED population.
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In 2006, the latest version of a national curriculum for the fourth-year emergency medicine (EM) clerkship was published. Over the past several years, that curriculum has been implemented across multiple clerkships. ⋯ As well, updates to the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME)'s form and function document, which guides the structure of a clerkship, have occurred. Combining experience, updated guidelines, and the collective wisdom of members of the national organization of the Clerkship Directors in Emergency Medicine (CDEM), an update and revision of the fourth-year EM clerkship educational syllabi has been developed.
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The objective was to evaluate the discriminatory ability of two clinical asthma scores, the Preschool Respiratory Assessment Measure (PRAM) and the Pediatric Asthma Severity Score (PASS), during an asthma exacerbation. ⋯ The PRAM and PASS clinical asthma scores appear to be measures of asthma severity in children with discriminative properties.
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The objective was to determine patterns of use of topical skin adhesives (TSA) for laceration repair. The authors hypothesized that TSA use would be more common in children and facial lacerations. ⋯ Topical skin adhesives are used more often for children, facial lacerations, and short lacerations. Use of adhesives may improve patient comfort as need for injecting a local anesthetic is reduced.