Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
-
Comparative Study
A comparison of standardized and narrative letters of recommendation.
To compare the Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors' (CORD's) standardized letters of recommendation (SLORs) with traditional narrative letters of recommendation (NLORs) with regard to interrater reliability, consistency, and time of interpretation. ⋯ Compared with NLORs, the CORD SLOR offers better interrater reliability with less interpretation time. Single-author SLOR/NLOR pairs submitted for a single applicant do not correlate well. Residency selection committees must decide whether the added work of interpreting NLORs is beneficial.
-
Unintentional falls are the leading cause of injury and the second most common cause of unintentional injury deaths in the United States, and place a great burden on EDs. In this study, the objective was to describe the incidence and characteristics of ED visits associated with unintentional falls in the United States. ⋯ This study reports nationally representative data describing the incidence and characteristics of fall-related ED visits. These data expand what is known about the epidemiology of falls and help to define the burden that fall injuries place on EDs in the United States. The results of this study could serve as a benchmark to evaluate the effectiveness of future fall prevention efforts.
-
Society has a right to expect that all physicians possess basic knowledge of emergency care and the skills to manage acute problems. Competency in the care of acutely ill and injured patients is one of the fundamental exit goals of most medical schools as mandated by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. ⋯ This paper was developed by the SAEM Education Committee and presents this committee's beliefs on what all graduating medical students should know about assessment and treatment of acutely sick and injured patients. It also suggests methods by which acquisition of this information can occur in medical school education.
-
Patient refusal of transport after treatment of hypoglycemia is common in urban emergency medical services (EMS) systems. The rate of relapse is unknown. The goal of this study was to compare the outcomes of diabetic patients initially refusing transport (refusers) and those transported to an ED. ⋯ The out-of-hospital treatment of hypoglycemic diabetic patients appears to be effective and efficient. Independent of the patient's refusal or acceptance of transport, the out-of-hospital treatment of hypoglycemic patients in this system appears to be safe.