Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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Relatively little is currently known about the effectiveness of first-aid training for children and laypeople. We have undertaken a systematic review to synthesise the evidence and inform policy and practice in this area. ⋯ There is some evidence to support provision of first-aid training, particularly for children or young people, but many studies were judged to be at risk of bias. Conclusions cannot be drawn about which first-aid training courses or programmes are most effective or the age at which training can be most effectively provided. Few studies evaluated training in adult laypeople. High-quality studies are required assessing effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of standardised first-aid training to inform policy development and provision of first-aid training.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Impact from point-of-care devices on emergency department patient processing times compared with central laboratory testing of blood samples: a randomised controlled trial and cost-effectiveness analysis.
To determine if time to disposition decisions for emergency department (ED) patients can be reduced when blood tests are processed using point-of-care (POC) devices and to conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis of POC compared with laboratory testing. ⋯ Small improvements in disposition decision time were achieved with POC testing for a moderate increase in cost. Greatest benefit may be achieved when POC is targeted to senior medical staff.
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To survey the attendance of patients presenting with a head injury (HI) at a UK emergency department (ED), identifying numbers, types of service and referral routes; to survey subsequent service use and to highlight the challenges in service planning and identifying which patients may potentially benefit from follow-up/rehabilitation input. ⋯ These study findings highlight the difficulties in identifying patients who would benefit from follow-up, in particular after mild HI. Our study findings will form the basis of a long-term follow-up study.
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In most countries, road traffic collisions (RTCs) are the main cause of cervical spine injuries. There are several techniques in use for spinal immobilisation during prehospital extrication; however, the evidence for these is currently poor. ⋯ Conventional extrication techniques record up to four times more cervical spine movement during extrication than controlled self-extrication. This proof of concept study demonstrates the need for further evaluation of current rescue techniques and the requirement to investigate the clinical and operational significance of such movement.
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Unplanned paediatric admissions are increasing for young children and infants experiencing respiratory illnesses. Many admissions are short-stay events, typically lasting less than 48 hrs. The short duration of these admissions could indicate that minor conditions are responsible for many of these events, and could consequently be targets for management by primary care teams. The purpose of this exploratory qualitative research is to understand more about admissions in young children attending the emergency department of a Children's hospital in the UK, with the aim of collaboratively identifying interventions to reduce admissions for minor respiratory conditions. The findings presented here will focus on the theme of clinical decision making by staff in this setting. ⋯ This research will interest educators and trainers operating in emergency paediatric settings. The emergence of 'informal learning', its acquisition and role in clinical decision making has implications in the development of training programmes for clinicians working in emergency paediatrics.