Articles: emergency-medical-services.
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This study evaluated the ability of emergency medical technicians (EMT-As) and emergency medical technicians-paramedics (EMT-Ps) to use pulse oximetry measurements in determining patient oxygen requirements. ⋯ EMT-Ps were more likely to appropriately base oxygen therapy on oximetry measurements than were EMT-As. Both groups failed to decrease supplemental oxygen in patients with high explicit protocols for EMS systems contemplating the use of oximetry to guide oxygen therapy. Our results further suggest that pulse oximetry could be used to avoid unnecessary oxygen therapy on a significant number of patients transported by EMS systems because they are already well saturated on room air.
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To determine the extent of supervision necessary for emergency medicine residents practicing in the emergency department. ⋯ Supervision is required for all patients managed by second-year emergency medicine residents, regardless of complaints. This evaluation should include a direct patient interview and examination by the emergency medicine attending and should not be limited to a case discussion or ED record cosignature.
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The first link in the "chain of survival" concept is the activation of the emergency medical system (EMS) by a bystander after recognition of cardiac arrest (CA) or its immediate prodrome. Our ongoing study is aimed at evaluating the current effectiveness of bystander EMS activation for all cases of CA in the city and area of Mainz. Methods. ⋯ In a higher percentage, the three-digit police number (110) was dialled. In cases where numbers other than emergency numbers were dialled (42%), the longest time intervals between collapse and receipt of call by the dispatchers occurred, associated with the longest time intervals until initiation of CPR and the lowest percentage of patients found in ventricular fibrillation. We conclude that establishment of a simple three-digit EMS phone number, preferentially Europe-wide, in combination with an intensification of public awareness, could be a vital step not only to reduce time intervals between collapse and CPR in our EMS system but also to improve survival.
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Emergency center thoracotomy was performed at our facility on 389 patients from 1984 through 1989. There were no patients excluded from the study, and survival for all patients was 8.3% with survival rates of 15.2% and 7.3% for stab and gunshot wounds, respectively. Emergency center thoracotomy was performed on 42 patients suffering from isolated extrathoracic injuries with 7% survival. ⋯ Of the survivors, prehospital endotracheal intubation prolonged successful toleration of CPR to 9.4 minutes compared with 4.2 minutes for nonintubated surviving patients (p less than 0.001). Emergency center thoracotomy is useful in the resuscitation of victims dying of penetrating truncal trauma. Prehospital endotracheal intubation significantly lengthened the time of successful CPR.