European journal of emergency medicine : official journal of the European Society for Emergency Medicine
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Comparative Study
How aware are Belgian permanent and resident emergency physicians of common medical costs and radiation doses?
To establish how aware Belgian emergency physicians are of common treatment costs and radiation doses. ⋯ Emergency doctors, whether permanent physicians or resident physicians, have a limited knowledge of both costs and radiation doses of investigations and treatments they prescribe every day.
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Participants in advanced resuscitation courses are often expected to learn to perform intraosseous access (IO). But how many learning modalities are needed to achieve procedural confidence in IO? We distributed an online questionnaire to members of emergency medicine, paediatric and anaesthesiology societies in Scandinavia. The responders without real-life experience with IO (n=322) were classified as 'not confident' or 'confident' in IO. ⋯ Confidence increased to 74.8% after one training modality, 87.9% after two modalities, 98.7% after three modalities and 100% after four modalities (P<0.0001). Of total responders 89.5% who had 'workshop or similar training with hands-on experience' as sole teaching method was confident. Confidence in IO increases with the number of learning modalities. 'Workshop or similar training with hands-on experience' as single training modality seemed as effective as the combination of two modalities.
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Comparative Study
Comparison of the SALT and Smart triage systems using a virtual reality simulator with paramedic students.
Virtual reality systems may allow for organized study of mass casualty triage systems by allowing investigators to replicate the same mass casualty incident, with the same victims, for a large number of rescuers. The study objectives were to develop such a virtual reality system, and use it to assess the ability of trained paramedic students to triage simulated victims using two triage systems. ⋯ The virtual reality platform seems to be a viable research tool for examining mass casualty triage. A small sample of trained paramedic students using the virtual reality system was able to triage simulated patients faster and with greater accuracy with 'Smart' triage than with 'SALT' triage.
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Comparative Study
Understanding the prehospital physician controversy. Step 1: comparing competencies of ambulance nurses and prehospital physicians.
In many European countries prehospital care by emergency medical services (EMS) is supplemented by physician-staffed services. There is ongoing controversy on the benefits of a prehospital physician. Possible advantages are additional competencies of the physician. Similarities and differences in competencies of EMS providers and physicians have however never been studied. This study aims to compare competencies of ambulance nurses and helicopter EMS physicians in the Netherlands to gain better insight into the controversy of the prehospital physician. ⋯ The ambulance nurse and physician have various mutual competencies. In addition, the physician can provide specific competencies on the scene. Knowing the exact overlap and differences in competencies is the first step to understand the prehospital physician controversy. Our results can be used as a tool for the next step in research on prehospital care by EMS providers and physicians and to improve prehospital care.