Prehospital emergency care : official journal of the National Association of EMS Physicians and the National Association of State EMS Directors
-
The objectives of this study are to develop a discrete-event simulation (DES) model for the Singapore Emergency Medical Services (EMS), and to demonstrate the utility of this DES model for the evaluation of different policy alternatives to improve ambulance response times. ⋯ Response times were shown to be improved via a more effective reallocation of ambulances and dispatch policy. More importantly, the response time improvements were achieved without a reduction in the utilization levels and additional costs associated with the addition of ambulances. We demonstrated the effective use of DES as a versatile platform to model the dynamic system complexities of Singapore's national EMS systems for the evaluation of operational strategies to improve ambulance response times.
-
Post-resuscitation care of cardiac arrest patients at specialized centers may improve outcome after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OOHCA). This study describes experience with regionalized care of resuscitated patients. ⋯ We found higher rates of neurologically intact survival from OOHCA in our system after regionalization of post-resuscitation care as compared to historical data.
-
To assess principal investigators' and study coordinators' views and experiences regarding community consultation in a multicenter trial of prehospital treatment for status epilepticus conducted under an exception from informed consent for research in emergency settings. ⋯ Coordinators and investigators in this trial viewed community consultation efforts as successful but reported real challenges generating public interest. Individuals with the condition under study were found to be more engaged and supportive of the trial. Respondents endorsed numerous potential goals of the community consultation process and often combined methods to achieve these goals.
-
Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Comparison of Success Rates between Two Video Laryngoscope Systems Used in a Prehospital Clinical Trial.
The primary aims of this study were to compare paramedic success rates and complications of two different video laryngoscopes in a prehospital clinical study. ⋯ The CMAC had a higher likelihood of successful intubation compared to the King Vision. Complication rates were not statistically different between groups. Video laryngoscope placement success rates were not higher than our historical direct laryngoscopy success rates.