Scand J Trauma Resus
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Scand J Trauma Resus · May 2018
Electrical injury - a dual center analysis of patient characteristics, therapeutic specifics and outcome predictors.
Electrical injuries represent life-threatening emergencies. Evidence on differences between high (HVI) and low voltage injuries (LVI) regarding characteristics at presentation, rhabdomyolysis markers, surgical and intensive burn care and outcomes is scarce. ⋯ Patients with electrical injuries, HVI in particular, are at high risk for severe complications. Due to the need for highly specialized surgery and intensive care, treatment should be reserved to burn units. Serum myoglobin and CK levels reflect the severity of injury and may predict a more complex clinical course. Routine cardiac monitoring > 24 h post injury does not seem to be necessary.
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Scand J Trauma Resus · May 2018
Comparing population and incident data for optimal air ambulance base locations in Norway.
Helicopter emergency medical services are important in many health care systems. Norway has a nationwide physician manned air ambulance service servicing a country with large geographical variations in population density and incident frequencies. The aim of the study was to compare optimal air ambulance base locations using both population and incident data. ⋯ Using population density data as a proxy for incident frequency is not recommended, as the two data types lead to different optimal base locations. Lowering the target time increases the sensitivity to choice of data.
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Scand J Trauma Resus · May 2018
Nerve trauma of the lower extremity: evaluation of 60,422 leg injured patients from the TraumaRegister DGU® between 2002 and 2015.
Nerve lesions are well known reasons for reduced functional capacity and diminished quality of life. By now only a few epidemiological studies focus on lower extremity trauma related nerve injuries. This study reveals frequency and characteristics of nerve damages in patients with leg trauma in the European context. ⋯ Despite of its low frequency nerve injury remains a main cause for reduced functional capacity and induces high socioeconomic expenditures due to prolonged rehabilitation and absenteeism of the mostly young trauma victims. Further research is necessary to get insight into management and long term outcome of peripheral nerve injuries.
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Scand J Trauma Resus · May 2018
Development and implementation of a geographical area categorisation method with targeted performance indicators for nationwide EMS in Finland.
In Finland, hospital districts (HD) are required by law to determine the level and availability of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) for each 1-km2 sized area (cell) within their administrative area. The cells are currently categorised into five risk categories based on the predicted number of missions. Methodological defects and insufficient instructions have led to incomparability between EMS services. The aim of this study was to describe a new, nationwide method for categorising the cells, analyse EMS response time data and describe possible differences in mission profiles between the new risk category areas. ⋯ The proposed area categories and grid-based data collection appear to be a useful method for evaluating EMS demand and availability in different parts of the country for statistical purposes. Due to a similar rural/urban area definition, the method might also be usable for comparison between the Nordic countries.
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Scand J Trauma Resus · May 2018
Comment LetterVentilation of intubated patients during HEMS hoisting operations.
In response to the review "Advanced airway management in hoist and longline operations in mountain HEMS - considerations in austere environments: a narrative review." by Pietsch et al. we refer to recently published original research describing manual versus automatic ventilation of intubated patients during helicopter hoisting operations.