Articles: emergency-medical-services.
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2024
ReviewReview article: Telehealth in Emergency Medicine in Australasia: Advantages and barriers.
The COVID-19 pandemic catapulted Telehealth to the forefront of Emergency Medicine (EM) as an alternative way of assessing and managing patients. This challenged the traditional idea that EM can only be practised within brick-and-mortar EDs. Many Emergency Physicians may find the idea of practising Telehealth in Emergency Medicine (TEM) confronting, particularly in the absence of training and clear practice guidelines. The purpose of the present paper is to describe the current use of TEM in Australasia, and outline the advantages and barriers in adopting this practice domain.
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Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg · Aug 2024
Multicenter StudyAccuracy between prehospital and hospital diagnosis in helicopter emergency medical services and its consequences for trauma care.
For optimal prehospital trauma care, it is essential to adequately recognize potential life-threatening injuries in order to correctly triage patients and to initiate life-saving measures. The aim of the present study was to determine the accuracy of prehospital diagnoses suspected by helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS). ⋯ Approximately half of severe chest, abdominal, and pelvic diagnoses made in hospital went undetected in the challenging prehospital environment. This underlines the difficult circumstances faced by the rescue teams. Potentially life-saving interventions such as prehospital chest decompression and increased use of a pelvic binder were identified as potential improvements to prehospital care.
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2024
Safety of pre-hospital peripheral vasopressors: The SPOTLESS study (Safety of PrehOspiTaL pEripheral vaSopreSsors).
To assess the safety and effectiveness of peripheral vasoactive drugs initiated during pre-hospital care and retrieval missions, in Queensland, Australia. ⋯ In this retrospective data set there were no major complications of peripheral vasoactive drugs. Minor complications were similar to in-hospital use and related to vascular access and drug delivery.
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In cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) occurring at home, Japanese emergency medical services personnel decide whether to provide treatment on the scene or during transport based on their judgment. This study aimed to evaluate the association between the timing of advanced life support (ALS) (i.e., endotracheal intubation [ETI] or adrenaline administration) for OHCA at home and prognosis. ⋯ Our analysis suggests performing ALS on the scene was associated with pre-hospital ROSC and survival at 1 month. Further efforts are needed to increase the rate of ALS implementation on the scene by emergency life-saving technicians.