Articles: hospital-emergency-service.
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Emerg Med Australas · Dec 2022
Prevalence and characteristics of frequent presenters to Auburn Hospital emergency department.
Frequent presenters (FPs) to the ED are common and contribute to ED overcrowding. Our aim was to identify the proportion of FPs over a 12-month period and to investigate the sociodemographic, clinical and attendance characteristics of FPs. ⋯ FPs represent a significant proportion of ED visits, yet a small proportion of ED patients. Our findings suggest that identifying ways to provide targeted services to older FPs may reduce the overall rates. The differences between language groups and FP highlights the importance of social context and culture when developing targeted interventions.
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The disruptions of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic impacted the delivery and utilization of healthcare services with potential long-term implications for population health and the hospital workforce. Using electronic health record data from over 700 US acute care hospitals, we documented changes in admissions to hospital service areas (inpatient, observation, emergency room [ER], and same-day surgery) during 2019-2020 and examined whether surges of COVID-19 hospitalizations corresponded with increased inpatient disease severity and death rate. ⋯ Infectious disease admissions increased by 52%. The monthly measures of inpatient case mix index, length of stay, and non-COVID death rate were higher in all months in 2020 compared with respective months in 2019.
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Emerg Med Australas · Dec 2022
Emergency Department adult presentations from the COVID-19 hotel quarantine program in Victoria, Australia: a retrospective cohort study of admissions and presenting complaints.
The present study aims to describe presentations to the designated ED from the Victorian COVID-19 hotel quarantine program. ⋯ The study demonstrates that the number of ED presentations from quarantine was low (<1 presentation/day). COVID Quarantine Victoria and Alfred Health put significant resources into the program to allow most returned international travellers to be safely cared for within a hotel and thus reduce the burden on the public hospital system.
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Ulus Travma Acil Cer · Dec 2022
A medicolegal evaluation of geriatric cases with traumatic injuries.
The morbidity and mortality of traumatic injuries are higher in individuals aged >65 years, which are a population group showing an increase worldwide, compared to other age groups. The aim of this study was to compare the medicolegal aspects, such as abuse of the elderly with the morbidity and mortality rates of injuries resulting from trauma by examining the age, gender, trauma history, type of traumatic injury, clinical progress following injury, elderly abuse, and the care environment of the person in cases aged 65 years and older. ⋯ Abuse of the elderly and the mechanisms of all traumas, primarily falls as the most common cause of geriatric trauma, are a subject that should be addressed in terms of forensic medicine. Preventative measures against trauma should be implemented and reviewed for the elderly, and health-care personnel should take responsibility for the legal reporting of forensic traumatic injuries.