Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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To assess the impact on the emergency department (ED) of recently discharged inpatients and how they contribute to and worsen the current situation of ED overcrowding. ⋯ The ED is appropriately utilized as a safety net for discharged inpatients. Though "returns" are a small percentage of ED patients, they have longer LOSs, have higher ED charges, and are more frequently admitted. Returns increase the strain on an already overcrowded ED.
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Comparative Study
Effect of an emergency department (ED) managed acute care unit on ED overcrowding and emergency medical services diversion.
To determine the impact of an inpatient, emergency department (ED)-managed acute care unit (ACU) on ED overcrowding and use of ambulance diversion. ⋯ An ED-managed ACU can have significant impact on ED overcrowding and ambulance diversion, and it need not be located proximate to the ED.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Dispatcher assistance and automated external defibrillator performance among elders.
Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) provide an opportunity to improve survival in out-of-hospital, ventricular fibrillation (VF) cardiac arrest by enabling laypersons not trained in rhythm recognition to deliver lifesaving therapy. The potential role of emergency dispatchers in the layperson use of AEDs is uncertain. This study was performed to examine whether dispatcher telephone assistance affected AED skill performance during a simulated VF cardiac arrest among a cohort of older adults. The hypothesis was that dispatcher assistance would increase the proportion who were able to correctly deliver a shock, but might require additional time. ⋯ Among older laypersons previously trained in AED operation, dispatcher assistance may increase the proportion who can successfully deliver a shock during a VF cardiac arrest.
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To develop a generally applicable set of coded chief complaints for the computerized patient records of emergency departments (EDs). ⋯ Applying continuous quality improvement methods, the authors created a clinically developed and applicable set of codable chief complaints that can be easily integrated into a computerized patient record of an ED.