BMC emergency medicine
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BMC emergency medicine · Jan 2015
Screening of mental health and substance users in frequent users of a general Swiss emergency department.
The objectives of this study were to determine the proportions of psychiatric and substance use disorders suffered by emergency departments' (EDs') frequent users compared to the mainstream ED population, to evaluate how effectively these disorders were diagnosed in both groups of patients by ED physicians, and to determine if these disorders were predictive of a frequent use of ED services. ⋯ This study found high proportions of screened mental health and/or substance use disorders in ED frequent users, but it showed low rates of detection of such disorders in day-to-day ED activities which can be a cause for concern. Active screening for these disorders in this population, followed by an intervention and/or a referral for treatment by a case-management team may constitute a relevant intervention for integration into a general ED setting.
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BMC emergency medicine · Jan 2015
Prevalence, outcomes and factors associated with adult in hospital cardiac arrests in a low-income country tertiary hospital: a prospective observational study.
Research on cardiac arrest and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) has considerably increased in recent decades, and international guidelines for resuscitation have been implemented and have undergone several changes. Very little is known about the prevalence and management of in-hospital cardiac arrest in low-resource settings. We therefore sought to determine the prevalence, outcomes and associated factors of adult inpatients with cardiac arrest at a tertiary referral hospital in a low-income country. ⋯ Our hospital has a high prevalence of cardiac arrest, and low rates of CPR performance, ROSC, and 24-hour survival. Single provider CPR; abnormal temperatures as well as after hours/weekend CAs were associated with lower survival rates.
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BMC emergency medicine · Jan 2015
Physicians' use of pain scale and treatment procedures among children and youth in emergency primary care - a cross sectional study.
Pain is a common symptom in children and youth attending casualty centres and emergency departments. The aim of this study was to acquire more knowledge about how pain in children is measured and handled by emergency primary care physicians. ⋯ Emergency primary care physicians report a need for pain assessment procedures in children and youth. They sometimes use a pain scale when measuring and managing pain in patients aged 9 to 19 years, but seldom in younger patients.
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BMC emergency medicine · Jan 2015
A remotely piloted aircraft system in major incident management: concept and pilot, feasibility study.
Major incidents are complex, dynamic and bewildering task environments characterised by simultaneous, rapidly changing events, uncertainty and ill-structured problems. Efficient management, communication, decision-making and allocation of scarce medical resources at the chaotic scene of a major incident is challenging and often relies on sparse information and data. Communication and information sharing is primarily voice-to-voice through phone or radio on specified radio frequencies. Visual cues are abundant and difficult to communicate between teams and team members that are not co-located. The aim was to assess the concept and feasibility of using a remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) system to support remote sensing in simulated major incident exercises. ⋯ A small remotely piloted aircraft can be used as an effective tool carrier, although limited by its payload capacity, wind speed and flight endurance. Remote sensing using already existing remotely piloted aircraft technology in pre-hospital environments is feasible and can be used to support situation assessment and information exchange at a major incident scene. Regulations are needed to ensure the safe use of unmanned aerial vehicles in major incidents. Ethical issues are abundant.
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BMC emergency medicine · Jan 2015
Subjective reasons why immigrant patients attend the emergency department.
Some patients visit a hospital's emergency department (ED) for reasons other than an urgent medical condition. There is evidence that this practice may differ among patients from different backgrounds. The objective of this study was to examine the reasons why patients from a non-English speaking background (NESB) and patients with an English speaking background but not born in Australia (ESB-NBA) visit the ED, as compared to patients from English-speaking backgrounds but born in Australia (ESB-BA). ⋯ NESB patients were the least likely to consider contacting a GP before attending hospital EDs. Educational interventions may help direct NESB people to the appropriate health services and therefore reduce the burden on tertiary hospitals ED.