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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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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A short cut review was carried out to establish whether local anaesthetic lubrication is necessary for urethral catheterisation in men. Two studies were directly relevant to the question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of these papers are tabulated. The clinical bottom line is that the use of local anaesthetic is effective in this population and should form part of the procedure.
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A short cut review was carried out to establish whether therapeutic anticoagulation is required for patients who have an incidental diagnosis of subsegmental pulmonary embolism (PE), which is asymptomatic. 4 studies were relevant to the three-part question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of these papers are tabulated. The evidence suggests that patients with clinically unsuspected PE may have better prognostic outcomes than those with symptomatic presentations, especially if the PE is at the sub-segmental level. ⋯ However, this study included patients with cancer and was not restricted to patients with subsegmental PE. Consequently, the clinical bottom line is that level 1 evidence is required to answer this question. In the meantime decisions must continue to be informed by clinical judgment.