Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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Multicenter Study
Are we training junior doctors to respond to major incidents? A survey of doctors in the Wessex region.
To assess the current status of awareness and training of junior medical staff in the Wessex region in the event of a "conventional" major incident. ⋯ Most middle grade staff in Wessex were not confident of their role in the event of a major incident. Most SpRs questioned had never attended a major incident training exercise.
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To investigate whether cases of possible non-accidental injury as identified using five risk indicators give rise to any subjective concerns of child abuse. ⋯ The introduction of a policy of identifying positive indicators from the five risk indicators of child abuse needs additional computer support within emergency departments.
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To assess whether initial patient consult by senior clinicians reduces numbers of patients waiting to be seen as an indirect measure of waiting time throughout the emergency department (ED). ⋯ By using a senior clinical team for initial patient consultation, the numbers of patients waiting fell dramatically throughout the ED. Many patients can be effectively treated and discharged after initial consult by the IMPACT team.
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To evaluate whether the quality and effectiveness of an emergency department (ED) are modified during weekends. ⋯ Some of the quality and effectiveness markers of the ED improved during weekend days compared with workdays.
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People who watch a lot of medical fiction overestimate the success rate of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). It has been suggested that this is because CPR is usually shown to be successful on television. This study analysed a popular Flemish medical drama series. Previous research showed that heavy viewing of this series was related to overestimation of CPR success. ⋯ The low survival rate challenges the idea that heavy viewers adopt the overestimation shown by television. Psychological research shows that people ignore base rate information in the shape of statistics, in favour of vivid, dramatic examples. Showing some impressive examples of success might therefore be more important than the overall success rate. It is suggested that the message of television fiction is that doctors are not powerless and that treatment does not stop once the heart stops beating. This helps to create what has been called an "illusion of efficacy".