Prehospital emergency care : official journal of the National Association of EMS Physicians and the National Association of State EMS Directors
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Few studies have examined the prehospital presentation, assessment, or treatment of patients diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The objective of this preliminary report is to describe prehospital encounters for patients with a COVID-19 hospital diagnosis and/or COVID-19 EMS suspicion versus those with neither a hospital diagnosis nor EMS suspicion of the disease. ⋯ In this large sample of prehospital encounters, EMS COVID-19 suspicion demonstrated sensitivity of 78% and positive predictive value of 20% compared with hospital ICD-10 codes. These data indicate that EMS suspicion alone is insufficient to determine appropriate utilization of PPE.
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Telephone-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an effective and proven tool to improve patient survival and outcome after cardiac arrest, and is therefore recommended in international resuscitation guidelines. A new technology that provides the emergency medical services (EMS) dispatcher with a video livestream from a smartphone during telephone-assisted CPR was investigated to assess whether a correct judgment of CPR quality is feasible. ⋯ A video livestream from a smartphone can support an EMS dispatcher's assistance in resuscitation. Typical resuscitation mistakes, like incorrect compression frequency or depth, and incorrect compression points could be recognized and corrected efficiently via video livestream.
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Emerging research has examined the prevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections in numerous settings, but a critical gap in knowledge is an understanding of the rate of infection among first responders. ⋯ While our results show a relatively low rate of test positivity for SARS-CoV-2 amongst first responders, most were either asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic. The potential risk of asymptomatic transmission both between first responders and from first responders to vulnerable patients requires more study.
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To determine if the Mechanism of Injury Criteria of the Field Triage Decision Scheme (FTDS) are accurate for identifying children who need the resources of a trauma center. ⋯ Over a quarter of the children who needed the resources of a trauma center were not identified using the Physiologic or Anatomic Criteria of the Field Triage Decision Scheme. The Mechanism of Injury Criteria did not apply to over a quarter of the mechanisms experienced by children transported by EMS for injury. Use of the Mechanism Criteria did not greatly enhance identification of children who need a trauma center. More work is needed to improve the tool used to assist EMS providers in the identification of children who need the resources of a trauma center.
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The COVID-19 pandemic is a worldwide historical event that will continue to affect nearly every aspect of ordinary life, including affecting our economic, political, and healthcare eco-systems. An effective pandemic response demands a coordinated and integrated response across community healthcare stakeholders, including Public Health and Emergency Management Officials. ⋯ EMS physicians serve their communities at a unique intersection as clinical leaders, population health experts, and advocates. This paper examines and recommends crucial roles for EMS physician leaders as communities work together in pandemic response.