European journal of emergency medicine : official journal of the European Society for Emergency Medicine
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We investigated the impact of an emergency medical services call on the management of acute myocardial infarction, considering time intervals for intervention and revascularization procedures. ⋯ This study demonstrated that a call to the emergency medical services is underutilized by patients with symptoms of myocardial infarction, and documented the beneficial effects of an emergency medical services call by reducing pre-hospital delays and increasing early revascularization therapies.
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Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
Reduced length of stay in medical emergency department patients: a prospective controlled study on emergency physician staffing.
Patients, emergency department staff and hospital managers are often confronted with a prolonged length of stay of emergency department patients, with resulting overcrowding in the emergency department. We hypothesized that additional medical personnel would reduce the length of stay. ⋯ An additional physician significantly reduced the length of stay of medical emergency department outpatients.
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The World Athletics Championships are considered to be the third most important sporting event on the planet. Before the celebration of their seventh meeting in Seville, Spain, the need for medical care, as in the Olympic Games, was supposed to be low and of minimal complexity. It was nevertheless judged necessary to install strategically located assistance points, and to evaluate the results of this intervention. METHODOLOGY AND DESIGN: Following the planning phase carried out by a multidisciplinary commission of health, set up by the Organizer Committee, which prepared protocols, that were elaborated by five working groups, the operation developed during the World Championships in Athletics is described. Five clinics and several first aid stations were set up in the stadium and its surroundings, in hotels, warm-up and training tracks, the high-speed train station and the airport, as well as strategic points in the city. ⋯ The preparation of a potent pre-hospital service, strategically located and dedicated to the event, was able to solve the problems that occurred. Nevertheless, a hospital alert and a coordination centre are also necessary. These data should be useful in planning medical resources for future mass sporting events.
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To determine whether in-hospital cardiac arrests occurring in regular wards are preceded by some event(s), and the diagnostic and therapeutic measures adopted. ⋯ Most in-hospital cardiac arrests are preceded by events that often go overlooked and whose correct interpretation could be associated with a reduced mortality rate.
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Diaphragmatic rupture is an uncommon and frequently missed complication in blunt thoraco-abdominal trauma. Symptoms usually become apparent in a delayed phase, up to years after the trauma. ⋯ We only found two cases in the literature. We present here two other cases from our practice, with a review on the literature on post-traumatic diaphragmatic hernias.