European journal of emergency medicine : official journal of the European Society for Emergency Medicine
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Observational Study
Ethically justified treatment limitations in emergency situations.
Medical emergency teams (METs) implement do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DNACPR) orders and other limitations of medical treatment (LOMTs) in hospitals regularly. However, METs operate in emergency situations with limited or no patient information at the scene. We aimed to study the medical ethics of LOMTs implemented in in-hospital emergency situations. ⋯ LOMTs were implemented in a decent and ethically justified manner in emergency situations following the code of conduct recommended by guidelines, even though MET operated under highly suboptimal circumstances for end-of-life care planning.
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Evaluation of an O2 treatment algorithm on the basis of current recommendations to reduce the number of patients unnecessarily treated with O2 in the Emergency Department of a tertiary hospital compared with the traditional application, and analysis of the use of O2. ⋯ The introduction of an O2 treatment algorithm in the Emergency Department reduced the number of patients treated with O2, and the nature and frequency of undesired effects was similar before and after the intervention.
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Emergency medical personnel are at risk of secondary contamination when treating victims of chemical-biological-radiological-nuclear incidents. Hence, it is crucial to train them on the appropriate management of patients involved in chemical-biological-radiological-nuclear incidents. Personal protective equipment (PPE) plays an important role in treating patients suffering from various types of poisoning. However, very few studies have examined whether the use of PPE impedes airway management in an emergency department setting. The present study evaluated the effect of PPE on physicians' performance of emergency airway management using mannequins. ⋯ Protective equipment had no effect on physicians' emergency airway placement time. The effect of wearing PPE is limited if postintubation care is excluded from the evaluation. Furthermore, intubation experience influenced participants' preferred approach for airway management.