Can J Emerg Med
-
A significant gap exists between people awaiting solid organ transplantation and solid organ donors. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there were missed donors in the emergency department (ED). ⋯ The ED is a source of missed organ donors. All potential donors were missed due to referral after withdrawal of life-sustaining therapy. ED physicians should consider the possibility of solid organ donation prior to the withdrawal of life-sustaining therapy.
-
Numerous studies reported on the frequency of, and factors associated with inappropriate or unnecessary emergency department (ED) visits using clinician judgment as the gold standard of appropriateness. This study evaluated the reliability of clinician judgment for assessing appropriateness of pediatric ED visit. ⋯ Although an important contributor to pediatric ED overcrowding, unnecessary or inappropriate visits are difficult to identify. We demonstrated poor reliability of clinician judgment to determine appropriateness of ED return visits, likely due to variability in clinical decision-making and risk-tolerance, social and systems factors impacting access and use of health care. We recommend that future studies evaluating the appropriateness of ED use standardized, objective criteria rather than clinician judgment alone.