J Emerg Med
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Substance use-related morbidity and mortality rates are at an all-time high in the United States, yet there remains significant stigma and discrimination in emergency medicine about patients with this condition. ⋯ The findings showed that Black patients with substance use disorder are waiting 35% longer, on average, than White patients with the same condition. This is concerning, given that emergency medicine is a critical frontline of care, and often the only source of care, for these patients. Furthermore, longer wait times can increase the likelihood of leaving the ED without being seen. Programs and policies should address potential stigma and discrimination among providers, and EDs should consider adding people with lived experiences to the staff to serve as peer recovery specialists and bridge the gap for care.
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Spit restraint devices, also referred to as spit hoods, spit masks, or spit socks, are used by law enforcement and medical personnel to minimize transmission of communicable disease from bodily fluids from agitated individuals. Several lawsuits have implicated spit restraint devices as contributing to the death of individuals who are physically restrained by means of asphyxiation due to saturation of the mesh restraint device with saliva. ⋯ In healthy adult subjects, there were no statistically or clinically significant differences in ventilatory or circulatory parameters while wearing the saturated spit restraint.