Can J Emerg Med
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The aim of this study is to identify the types of community paramedicine programs and the training for each. ⋯ Community paramedicine programs and training were diverse and allowed community paramedics to address a spectrum of population health and social needs. Training was poorly described. Enabling more programs to assess and report on program and training outcomes would support community paramedicine growth and the development of formalized training or education frameworks.
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Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is used increasingly during resuscitation. The aim of this study was to assess whether combining POCUS and electrocardiogram (ECG) rhythm findings better predicts outcomes during cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the emergency department (ED). ⋯ The absence of cardiac activity on POCUS, or on both ECG and POCUS together, better predicts negative outcomes in cardiac arrest than ECG alone. No test reliably predicted survival.
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Choosing Wisely Canada (CWC) is a national initiative designed to encourage patient-clinician discussions about the appropriate, evidence-based use of medical tests, procedures and treatments. The Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians' (CAEP) Choosing Wisely Canada (CWC) working group developed and released ten recommendations relevant to Emergency Medicine in June 2015 (items 1-5) and October 2016 (items 6-10). ⋯ While the full review of the CWC recommendations will be performed in 2020, a number of high-impact studies were published after our initial launch that prompted an ad hoc review of the relevant three of our ten recommendations prior to the full review in 2020. This paper describes the results of the CAEP CWC working group's ad hoc review of three of our ten recommendations in light of recent publications.
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A common strategy for managing emergency department (ED) patients with low-risk abdominal pain is to discharge them home and arrange for next day outpatient ultrasound for further assessment. The objective was to determine the proportion of outpatient ultrasounds with findings requiring intervention within 14 days. ⋯ Next-day ultrasound imaging remains a good way of identifying patients with serious pathology not appreciated at the time of their ED visit.