Journal of accident & emergency medicine
-
(1) To see whether children are weighted before drugs are prescribed in an accident and emergency (A&E) department; (2) to assess how safe it is for doctors to guess children's weight if they prescribe "by eye". ⋯ The average guess of doctors as a group was approximately correct. However, there was a wide range of estimates for individuals. If the child's weight is guessed, the doctor could risk under- or overprescribing analgesia, sedation, or intravenous fluids. Given the wide range of estimates, actual weights are required for accurate prescribing. Prescribing on an age basis may be acceptable for drugs such as paracetamol or amoxycillin, but it is imperative to prescribe on a mg/kg basis for opiates, sedatives, and intravenous fluids because of the large variation in weight that can occur for a single age.
-
To assess the quality of accident and emergency (A&E) medicine higher specialist training as perceived by current trainees and those who have recently completed training. ⋯ While clinical training is largely satisfactory, areas where higher specialist training could be improved have been identified. Continued development is necessary to meet the challenges of the new specialist registrar grade and opportunities and threats to training in the future are proposed and discussed.
-
Comparative Study
Radiography for head trauma in children: what guidelines should we use?
To audit the appropriateness of skill radiography in children attending an accident and emergency (A&E) department with head injuries. ⋯ The British guidelines overinvestigate children with head injury. This seems to have been recognised clinically, and the doctors did not adhere to the guidelines. Neither did they adhere to the American guidelines, which would have resulted in a further reduction in radiography. All the fractures identified were covered by the American guidelines. The American guidelines for skull radiography can be safely used in a British A&E unit.