Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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New Zealand is hosting the Rugby World Cup (RWC) 2011. It is the largest sporting event in New Zealand's history, with around 70,000 fans estimated to visit the country from September to October 2011. This influx of tourists will have an impact on its already stretched healthcare services. The preparedness of New Zealand's healthcare system to handle this mass event is unclear. ⋯ Only 12.7% of acute care providers in New Zealand perceived preparedness for RWC 2011. Perceived preparedness followed a stepwise decline from prehospital services, emergency department, to surgery and then finally to intensive care services. This indicates that current preparedness activities are focusing on prehospital emergency services and neglecting surgical and intensive care services. Awareness about the role of acute care providers during emergencies, training and previous experience were associated with perceived strong preparedness for RWC 2011.
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In real cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), noise can arise from instructional voices and environmental sounds in places such as a battlefield and industrial and high-traffic areas. A feedback device using a flashing light was designed to overcome noise-induced stimulus saturation during CPR. This study was conducted to determine whether 'flashlight' guidance influences CPR performance in a simulated noisy setting. ⋯ Flashlight-guided CPR is particularly advantageous for maintaining a desired MCR during hands-only CPR in noisy environments, where metronome pacing might not be clearly heard.
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Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Mid-regional pro-adrenomedullin improves disposition strategies for patients with acute dyspnoea: results from the BACH trial.
To assess the value of mid-regional pro-adrenomedullin (MR-proADM) in guiding patient disposition from the emergency department (ED), as one of the key factors of hospital resource utilisation, in undifferentiated patients with acute dyspnoea. ⋯ MR-proADM has the potential to guide initial disposition of undifferentiated ED patients with acute dyspnoea and might therefore be helpful to improve resource utilisation and patient care.