Articles: emergency-medical-services.
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The benefits and risks of the intraosseous (IO) route for vascular access in patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) remain controversial. This study compares the success rates of establishing the access route, epinephrine administration rates, and time-to-epinephrine between adult patients with OHCA with IO access and those with intravenous (IV) access established by paramedics in the prehospital setting. ⋯ The IO route was significantly associated with higher success rates of route establishment, epinephrine administration, and shorter time-to-epinephrine in the prehospital resuscitation of adult patients with OHCA.
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Pregnancy is a time of tremendous physiologic change and vulnerability. At any point, symptoms and complications can prompt the need for emergency care, and these can range from minor to life-threatening. ⋯ To optimally care for these patients, it is paramount to be aware of the unique physiologic changes that occur during pregnancy. The focus of this review is to discuss illnesses unique to pregnancy and additional aspects of resuscitation that must be considered when caring for a critically ill pregnant patient.
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In out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, early recognition, calling for emergency medical assistance, and early cardiopulmonary resuscitation are acknowledged to be the three most important components in the chain of survival. However, bystander basic life support (BLS) initiation rates remain low. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the association between bystander BLS and survival after an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). ⋯ The provision of bystander BLS was associated with a 77% greater likelihood of 30-day survival after OHCA. Given than only one in two OHCA bystanders provides BLS, a greater focus on life saving training for laypeople is essential.
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This study aimed to design and implement a new variable, the automated external defibrillator (AED) variable, within the Danish Cardiac Arrest Registry. The introduction of the new variable aims to investigate and solve the challenges of reporting out-of-hospital cardiac arrests. ⋯ This study highlights the differences between OHCA patients receiving defibrillation and those not receiving defibrillation after AED placement. These differences emphasise the need for uniform reporting of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. This study showed improvement in the completeness of the registration of OHCA by implementing the AED variable. However, a future effort to improve registration completeness is needed.
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Violence risk assessment is commonplace in mental health settings and is gradually being used in emergency care. The aim of this review was to explore the efficacy of undertaking violence risk assessment in reducing patient violence and to identify which tool(s), if any, are best placed to do so. ⋯ There is a paucity of high-quality evidence evaluating the psychometric properties of violence risk assessment tools currently used along the emergency care pathway. Multiple tools exist, and they could have a role in reducing violence in emergency care. However, the limited testing of their psychometric properties, acceptability, feasibility, and usability in emergency care means that it is not possible to favor one tool over another until further research is conducted.