International journal of emergency medicine
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In order to enhance patient safety during resuscitation of critically ill patients, we need to optimize team communication and enhance team situational awareness but little is known about resuscitation team communication patterns. The objective of this study is to understand how teams communicate during resuscitation; specifically to assess for a shared mental model (organized understanding of a team's relationships) and information needs. ⋯ Resuscitation team members expressed a shared mental model and prioritized situational awareness. Our findings support a need for cognitive aids to enhance team communication during resuscitations.
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Pain is among the most commonly treated symptoms in the emergency department, and opioids are commonly prescribed from the emergency department to treat moderate to severe pain. Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMP) can be used to assist physicians identify individuals at increased risk to misuse or abuse opioids. While the use of the PDMP has been shown useful among clinicians, in the past, utilization of the PDMP has been less than optimal. The objective of this study was to assess the current utilization and perceptions of the prescription drug monitoring program among emergency medicine providers in Florida. ⋯ Although most providers reported that they were aware of their states' PDMP, utilization of the PDMP among emergency medicine providers in Florida remains low. Low utilization was associated with barriers to access. If further enhancements to PDMPs can be made to improve accessibility, then rates of PDMP utilization may increase.
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Although rapid sequence intubation (RSI) is the method of choice in emergency department (ED) airway management, data to support the use of RSI remain scarce. We sought to compare the effectiveness of airway management between RSI and non-RSI (intubation with sedative agents only or without medications) in the ED. ⋯ In this large multicenter study of ED airway management, we found that intubation with RSI was independently associated with a higher success rate on the first attempt but not with the risk of complications.
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Hospitalization and early anticoagulation therapy remain standard care for patients who present to the emergency department (ED) with pulmonary embolism (PE). For PEs discovered incidentally, however, optimal therapeutic strategies are less clear-and all the more so when the patient has cancer, which is associated with a hypercoagulable state that exacerbates the threat of PE. ⋯ Selected cancer patients presenting to the ED with incidental PE can be treated with low-molecular-weight heparin anticoagulation and safely discharged. Avoidance of unnecessary hospitalization may decrease in-hospital infections and death, reduce healthcare costs, and improve patient quality of life. Because the natural history and optimal management of this condition is not well described, information supporting the creation of straightforward evidence-based practice guidelines for ED teams treating this specialized patient population is needed.
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Burns occur disproportionately within low-socioeconomic populations. The Western Cape Province of South Africa represents a middle-income setting with a high rate of burns, few specialists and few burn centres, yet a well-developed pre-hospital system. This paper describes the burn cases from a viewpoint of operational factors important to pre-hospital emergency medical services. ⋯ Burns make up a small portion of the EMS caseload. More burns occurred in areas far from urban hospitals and burn centres. The majority of burn cases met the burn centre referral criteria.