Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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To describe acquisition and implementation of information technology (IT) in U.S. emergency medicine (EM) residency-affiliated emergency departments (EDs), including automatic medication error checking. ⋯ Incorporation of IT is not uniform in EDs where EM residents train. Acquisition of effective IT tools varies, and implementation lags behind acquisition. Fully implemented IT for medication error checking was reported in 7% of EDs; an additional 12% had acquired IT without implementing it fully.
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Multicenter Study
Interrater reliability of criteria used in assessing blunt head injury patients for intracranial injuries.
To determine the interrater reliability of potential predictor variables that may be used to construct a clinical decision rule for emergency computed tomography of the head in blunt head injury victims. ⋯ The clinicians in our study had a substantial level of agreement regarding most clinical criteria assessed in this large sample of patients with blunt head injury.
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To evaluate simultaneously several possible risk factors for blood bank specimen hemolysis. ⋯ Blood bank specimens drawn from Vialon IV catheters (particularly smaller gauge catheters) and from veins outside the antecubital area are at significantly increased risk to hemolyze.
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Determination of the presence of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is essential in the management of the symptomatic emergency department (ED) patient. ⋯ EUS-AA in a symptomatic population for AAA is sensitive and specific. These data suggest that the presence of AAA on EUS-AA should guide urgent consultation. Emergency physicians were able to exclude AAA regardless of disposition from the ED.
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To test the hypothesis that arterial blood gas (ABG) results for patients with suspected diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) do not influence emergency physicians' management decisions and to assess correlation and precision between venous pH and arterial pH. ⋯ ABG results rarely influenced emergency physicians' decisions on diagnosis, treatment, or disposition in suspected DKA patients. Venous pH correlated well and was precise enough with arterial pH to serve as a substitute.