Can J Emerg Med
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High-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a fundamental intervention for cardiac arrest, yet health care providers rarely adhere to recommended guidelines. Real-time feedback improves CPR performance. It is currently unknown how Canadian emergency physicians assess CPR quality during cardiac arrest and if they use feedback devices. Our aim was to describe how emergency physicians assess CPR quality and to describe eventual barriers to implementation of feedback technology. ⋯ Most Canadian emergency physicians that responded to our survey, assess quality of CPR by standing at the foot of the bed and utilize visual observation and palpation methods which are known to be inaccurate. A minority utilize objective measurements such as ETCO2 or feedback devices, with the greatest barrier being lack of availability.
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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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With regionalized trauma care, medical transport times can be prolonged, requiring paramedics to manage patient care and symptoms. Our objective was to evaluate pain management during air transport of trauma patients. ⋯ Initial and subsequent dose(s) of analgesic had minimal effect on pain as assessed via numerical rating scale, likely due in part to inadequate dosing. Future research is required to determine and address the barriers to proper analgesia.
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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.