Plos One
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High-quality chest compressions is challenging for bystanders and first responders to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Long compression pauses and compression rates higher than recommended are common and detrimental to survival. Our aim was to design a simple and low computational cost algorithm for feedback on compression rate using the transthoracic impedance (TI) acquired by automated external defibrillators (AEDs). ⋯ Our algorithm is accurate and robust for real-time guidance on chest compression rate using AEDs. The algorithm is simple and easy to implement with minimal software modifications. Deployment of AEDs with this capability could potentially contribute to enhancing the quality of chest compressions in the first minutes from collapse.
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Although harmful consumption of alcohol and other drugs (both illicit and pharmaceutical) significantly contribute to global burden of disease, not all harms are captured within existing morbidity data sources. Indeed, harms occurring in the community may be missed or under-reported. This paper describes the National Ambulance Surveillance System, a unique Australian system for monitoring and mapping acute harms related to alcohol and other drug consumption. ⋯ The National Ambulance Surveillance System is an internationally unique population-level surveillance system of acute harms arising from alcohol and other drug consumption. Dissemination of National Ambulance Surveillance System data has been used to inform and evaluate policy approaches and potential points of intervention, as well as guide workforce development needs and clinical practice at the local and national level. This methodology could be replicated in other countries.
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The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on orthopedic and trauma surgery in private practices and hospitals in Germany. ⋯ Political and financial support can now be applied more focused to subgroups in the field of orthopedics and trauma surgery with an increased demand for support. A special emphasis should be set on the support of self-employed surgeons which are a more affected by the shortage of PPE and financial consequences than surgeons working in hospitals.
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At present nearly half of the world's population is under some form of government restriction to curb the spread of COVID-19, an extremely contagious disease. In Bangladesh, in the wake of five deaths and 48 infections from COVID-19, between March 24 and May 30, 2020, the government imposed a nationwide lockdown. While this lockdown restricted the spread of COVID-19, in the absence of effective support, it can generate severe food and nutrition insecurity for daily wage-based workers. ⋯ Using information from more than 50,000 respondents complied with the 2016-17 Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) in Bangladesh, this study estimates daily wage rates as Bangladesh Taka (BDT) 272.2 in the farm sector and BDT 361.5 in the nonfarm sector. Using the estimated daily wage earnings, this study estimates that a one-day complete lockdown generates a US$64.2 million equivalent economic loss only considering the wage loss of the daily wage workers. After estimating the daily per capita food expenditure separately for farm and nonfarm households, this study estimates a minimum compensation package for the daily wage-based farm and nonfarm households around the US $ 1 per day per household to ensure minimum food security for the daily wage-based worker households.
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Acute trauma pain is poorly managed in the emergency department (ED). The reasons are partly organizational: ED crowding and rare trauma care pathways contribute to oligoanalgesia. Anticipating the organizational impact of an innovative care procedure might facilitate the decision-making process and help to optimize pain management. ⋯ Our model highlighted the putative positive organizational impact of methoxyflurane in the ED-particularly when supported by a trauma care pathway-and the relevance of expert consensus in this particular pharmacoeconomic context. The MCDA approach could be extended to other research fields and healthcare challenges in emergency medicine.