Notfall Rettungsmed
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The call volume in emergency medical service (EMS) dispatch centers has seen a drastic increase for many years now, especially looking at urban regions of Germany. In this context, the control mechanisms of the EMS dispatch center can be utilized to break new ground regarding the handling of emergency calls and dispatch practice in order to manage incoming calls as efficiently as possible. This article clearly explains standardized protocol-based emergency medical call taking, internal structuring of control centers and pathways, also during the COVID-19 pandemic, using the Berlin EMS dispatch center as an example. ⋯ Interprofessional teams in EMS can improve the care of specific patient groups in a targeted manner and avoid transport to emergency departments. Standardized protocol-based and software-based emergency call taking currently represents best practice according to medical science, supporting a nationwide implementation. Furthermore, an intensive collaboration between EMS control centers and control centers for non-life-threatening physician on-call services is recommended as well as the introduction of specialized EMS resources and app-based alerting of first responders.
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Notfall Rettungsmed · Aug 2022
[Hospital disaster planning in south-western Germany. A survey of 214 clinics].
Due to legal regulations in Germany, public acute and emergency (A&E) hospitals-along with responsible authorities, emergency medical services, and other institutions such as the state medical associations-are committed to participate in civil protection. This participation includes the need to create and update emergency plans for external and internal crises and to take part in disaster drills. In fact, so far there is only little literature to prove whether and to what extent hospitals fulfill their obligations on this topic. ⋯ The willingness of public hospitals to establish comprehensive disaster planning and to take part in related drills seems to have improved noticeably in recent years. However, there is still the need for improvement in keeping the concepts up to date at some hospitals. Especially smaller hospitals showed deficits in emergency planning, particularly concerning preparedness for internal crises, resulting from failure of technical equipment. More regular drills should be used to test existing concepts and to familiarize employees with the processes on a routine basis.
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Notfall Rettungsmed · Jul 2022
[Effects of automated external defibrillators on hands-off intervals in lay rescuers].
Survival chances after out-of-hospital cardiac arrests caused by hyperdynamic electric cardiac rhythms can be significantly improved by early defibrillation with automated external defibrillators (AEDs). As postulated in international guidelines, the resulting hands-off intervals should not exceed 10 s. ⋯ Perishock pause of less than 10 s was not achieved with any of the tested devices. Shortened and more precise voice prompts as well as more clearly arranged labeling and layout of pads are needed to simplify application, reduce delayed onset of chest compressions and shorten hands-off intervals.
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Notfall Rettungsmed · May 2022
[Stocked medications in emergency medical service vehicles staffed by physicians-is prehospital treatment according to current guidelines possible?]
High quality of care in prehospital emergency medicine is characterized by guideline-based therapy. The basic prerequisite for this therapy is the availability of the required drugs in accordance with the current guideline recommendations. It is currently unclear whether this is guaranteed nationwide. There is no uniform standard regarding which drugs must be stocked in emergency medical services (EMS) vehicles staffed by physicians in Germany. The aim of the present study is to identify important diagnoses and the drugs required for their therapy. In a second step, medical directors throughout Germany were interviewed about current drugs available in their physician-staffed EMS vehicles and these were compared with the previously defined diagnosis-dependent drug lists. ⋯ The present study investigated stocked medications in physician-staffed EMS vehicles. Overall, compared to a 2011 study, drug availability has improved. Most of the recommended medications are available in physician-staffed vehicles in Germany. The data from this study can be used by EMS throughout Germany to evaluate their preparedness.
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Notfall Rettungsmed · Apr 2022
Review[Drinking behavior at the beginning and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: results of a literature review].
It is well known that alcohol consumption and abuse, as well as alcohol-induced problems, increase during difficult economic times. Previous studies showed increased alcohol consumption in the 2003 SARS outbreak in China. The review examines global changes in alcohol consumption under current SARS-CoV‑2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) pandemic. ⋯ Further study follow-ups under the continuing pandemic are relevant. Since the populations studied were predominantly of working age, occupational prevention measures of elevated stress levels for some of the respondents with increased alcohol consumption seem reasonable.