Articles: emergency-medical-services.
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Past studies have shown in many instances that elderly people are represented in the hospital emergency room in proportion to their distribution in the population. It is possible, though, that elderly patients in the emergency room are using different types of resources than individuals of a younger age. Samples of two hospital emergency room users were selected in 1981 and in 1986. ⋯ Age had an effect on use of resources under both conditions, regardless of the patients' gender, time of the visits, availability of alternative sources of emergency care, and diagnostic categories. The role of the hospital emergency room is to address medical care needs of specific segments of the population in special circumstances. Elderly emergency room patients are indeed one of these specific segments with very special needs.
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HMO practice / HMO Group · May 1991
After-hours telephone triage. Recruitment, training and retention of personnel.
Harvard Community Health Plan's nighttime telephone triage program, currently known as Telecommunications, has evolved through several stages, corresponding to HCHP membership growth, technological enhancements, and changes in the medicolegal environment. Recruiting, training, and retaining staff for nighttime telephone triage are discussed.
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The costs of an after-hours triage service and potential savings for a medium-sized (90,000 member) division of an HMO are presented. Other benefits are also described, including access to member medical records and coverage information, direct-linked telephone conferencing, and more personalized and continuous care.
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Before the implementation of an intraosseous infusion protocol by the City of Pittsburgh paramedics, we undertook a study to compare the establishment of a simulated intraosseous infusion in three different prehospital settings. The purpose of this study was to determine the time to establish an intraosseous infusion and the success rate at the scene and en route to the hospital using this model. ⋯ Using a simulated model, IO access can be established successfully in the prehospital setting. The minimal time delay in establishing IO infusion may make it an appropriate technique for use at the scene or en route to the hospital.