Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
-
The field of international emergency medicine (IEM) has grown rapidly over the past several decades, with a rise in the number of IEM fellowship positions, sustained growth in the international sections of major emergency medicine organizations, and an increase in the range of topics included under its rubric. One of the greatest obstacles to the continued growth of IEM remains the lack of a high-quality, consolidated, and easily accessible evidence base of literature. ⋯ Research articles were selected for the review according to explicit, predetermined criteria that included both methodological quality and perceived impact of the research. It is the authors' hope that this annual review will act as a forum for disseminating best practices while also stimulating further research in the field of IEM.
-
The authors measured the association between emergency department (ED) crowding and patient and provider perceptions about whether patient care was compromised. ⋯ ED crowding is associated with perceptions of compromised emergency care. There is considerable variability among nurses, patients, and resident physicians over which factors are associated with compromised care, whose care was compromised, and how care was compromised.
-
Patient safety interventions for multitasking, multipatient, error-prone work settings such as the emergency department (ED) must improve assorted clinical abilities, specific cognitive strategies, and teamwork functions of the staff to be effective. Multiple encounter simulation scenarios explore and convey this specialized mental work-set through use of multiple high-fidelity medical simulation (SIM) manikins in realistic surroundings. Multipatient scenarios reflect the work situations being targeted yet have the benefit of scripted control and instructor guidance to advance specific educational objectives. ⋯ Widespread and effective training in well-replicated, carefully coordinated representations of complex multipatient work environments may strengthen educational interventions for personnel working in high acuity and work-overloaded settings such as the ED. The use of concurrent patient encounter SIM exercises to elicit calculated stressors and to foster compensatory staff behaviors is an educational advance toward this objective. The authors present SIM methodology using concurrent patient encounters to replicate these environments.
-
The effectiveness of out-of-hospital regionalization of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients to hospitals providing primary percutaneous coronary intervention depends on the accuracy of the out-of-hospital 12-lead electrocardiogram (PHTL). Although estimates of sensitivity and specificity of PHTL for STEMI have been reported, the impact of out-of-hospital STEMI prevalence on positive predictive value (PPV) has not been evaluated. ⋯ Even when assuming high specificity for PHTL, the false-positive rate will be considerable if applied to a population at low risk for STEMI. Before broadening application of PHTL to low-risk patients, the implications of a high false-positive rate should be considered.
-
A noninvasive method to assess ventilation may aid in management of children with acute asthma. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between end-tidal carbon dioxide (EtCO2) values and disease severity among children with acute asthma. ⋯ Noninvasive bedside measurement of EtCO2 values among children with acute asthma is feasible. EtCO2 values did not distinguish children with mild disease from those with more severe disease. Further data are needed to clarify the association between EtCO2 values and other indicators of disease severity, particularly in children with more severe disease.