Articles: emergency-medical-services.
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Excessive ventilatory volumes and rates during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can lead to adverse effects, such as elevated intrathoracic pressure and decreased coronary blood flow. The 2020 American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines acknowledge the value of real-time feedback devices in improving CPR performance. In this case series, three out-of-hospital cardiac arrest cases received ventilation feedback during prehospital resuscitation and the initial in-hospital care phase. ⋯ Existing evidence supports the importance of maintaining specific ventilation rates and tidal volumes during cardiac arrest to improve outcomes. We believe further research is essential to establish a definitive link between ventilation strategies and patient outcomes, ultimately enhancing resuscitation efforts and patient survival rates. Integrating real-time ventilation feedback devices both in and out of the hospital during cardiac arrest presents an opportunity for quality improvement and adherence to national standards.
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Emergency Medical Services (EMS) are attending an increasing number of adults who fall. This study aimed to describe the incidence, patient characteristics, treatments and disposition of ambulance attended patients who fell in Western Australia (WA). ⋯ Older, female patients had higher odds of being transported via a lower urgency, with 50 % of this cohort transported via urgency three. While 19 % of patients were attended via a Priority one, only 1 % were transported to hospital via urgency one. The incidence rate of falls requiring ambulance attendance has increased over time, increasing the demand placed on EMS annually.
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Eur. J. Intern. Med. · Dec 2023
Performance of admission pathways within acute medicine services: Analysis from the Society for Acute Medicine Benchmarking Audit 2022 and comparison with performance 2019 - 2021.
Urgent and emergency care services face increasing pressure, impacting patient care. We evaluated the performance of acute medicine services, assessing clinical quality indicators for unplanned medical admissions to acute hospital services. 152 acute UK hospital services accepting unplanned admissions to acute and general internal medicine completed a day-of-care survey incorporating organisational structure questionnaire and patient-level data over a pre-defined 24-hour period in June 2022. Clinical quality indicators were: Early Warning Score (EWS) measurement within 30 min of hospital arrival; clinician assessment within 4 h; assessment by consultant physician within 6 h (daytime) or 14 h (night-time). ⋯ Performance against all three clinical quality indicators was lower than 2019, 2020 and 2021 (p<0.001 for all). Performance against all quality indicators within acute medicine services is deteriorating. However, performance in Same Day Emergency Care Units is greater than in Acute Medical Units or Emergency Departments.