European journal of emergency medicine : official journal of the European Society for Emergency Medicine
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The patient's presenting complaint guides diagnosis and treatment in the emergency department, but there is no classification system available in German. The Canadian Emergency Department Information System (CEDIS) Presenting Complaint List (PCL) is available only in English and French. As translation risks the altering of meaning, the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) has set guidelines to ensure translational accuracy. The aim of this paper is to describe our experiences of using the ISPOR guidelines to translate the CEDIS PCL into German. ⋯ The ISPOR guidelines facilitated adaptation of a PCL into German, but the process required time, language skills and clinical knowledge. The current methodology may be applicable to translating the CEDIS PCL into other languages, with the aim of developing a harmonized, multilingual PCL.
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Human factors account for the majority of adverse events. Human factors awareness training entitled Crew Resource Management (CRM) is associated with improved safety and reduced complications and mortality in critically ill patients. We determined the effects of CRM implementation in the trauma room of an Emergency Department (ED). ⋯ Although CRM implementation in the ED was associated with an improved safety climate, the time spent by trauma patients in the ED increased.
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Patients suspected of having venous thromboembolism (VTE), with a low pretest probability, undergo D-dimer testing. A negative D-dimer, in a low-risk patient rules out VTE with a high degree of certainty because of its high sensitivity. It is, however, a poorly specific test, and the absolute value increases with age. The aim of this study was to establish whether an age-adjusted D-dimer could be safely used instead of a standard cut-off level in low-risk patients over the age of 50 years. ⋯ For patients over the age of 50 years suspected of having VTE with a low pretest probability, increasing the D-dimer cut-off level to 5× the age increases the proportion of patients in whom VTE can safely be excluded without radiological imaging.
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The aim of this study was to examine the influences on emergency department (ED) length of stay (LOS) for older people and develop a predictive model for an ED LOS more than 4 h. ⋯ Objective identification of older people at intermediate and high risk of an ED LOS more than 4 h early in ED care enables targeted approaches to streamline the patient journey, decrease ED LOS and optimize emergency care for older people.