Articles: emergency-medicine.
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Scand J Trauma Resus · Dec 2022
ReviewPreparing medical first responders for crises: a systematic literature review of disaster training programs and their effectiveness.
Adequate training and preparation of medical first responders (MFRs) are essential for an optimal performance in highly demanding situations like disasters (e.g., mass accidents, natural catastrophes). The training needs to be as effective as possible, because precise and effective behavior of MFRs under stress is central for ensuring patients' survival and recovery. This systematic review offers an overview of scientifically evaluated training methods used to prepare MFRs for disasters. It identifies different effectiveness indicators and provides an additional analysis of how and to what extent the innovative training technologies virtual (VR) and mixed reality (MR) are included in disaster training research. ⋯ To determine the success of a training, proper and scientifically sound evaluation is necessary. Of the effectiveness indicators found, performance assessments in simulated scenarios are closest to the target behavior during real disasters. For valid yet inexpensive evaluations, objectively assessible performance measures, such as accuracy, time, and order of actions could be used. However, performance assessments have not been applied often. Furthermore, we found that technology-based training methods represent a promising approach to train many MFRs repeatedly and efficiently. These technologies offer great potential to supplement or partially replace traditional training. Further research is needed on those methods that have been underrepresented, especially serious gaming, immersive VR, and MR.
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In United States, health care workers have been immersed in the COVID-19 pandemic since February 2020. Since availability of COVID-19 vaccines, there is limited literature investigating the incidence of unknown COVID-19 infections in physicians and Advanced Practitioner Providers (APPs) working in emergency departments (EDs). The primary objective is to determine the incidence unknown COVID-19 infection within a cohort of emergency physicians (EPs) and APPs. ⋯ Unknown previous COVID-19 infection was less then expected in this cohort of EPs/APPs, and no association with individual characteristics, previously infected household member, or children in the home.
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Physician burnout has severe consequences on clinician well-being. Residents face numerous work-stressors that can contribute to burnout; however, given specialty variation in work-stress, it is difficult to identify systemic stressors and implement effective burnout interventions on an institutional level. Assessing resident preferences by specialty for common wellness interventions could also contribute to improved efficacy. ⋯ BWS can identify relative differences in surveyed stressors, allowing for the generation of specialty-specific stressor rankings and preferences for specific wellness interventions that can be used to drive institution-wide changes to improve clinician wellness. BWS surveys are a potential methodology for clinician wellness programmes to gather specific information on preferences to determine best practices for resident wellness.
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Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg · Dec 2022
Observational StudyRisk assessment, consequences, and epidemiology of electric scooter accidents admitted to an emergency department: a prospective observational study.
This study aimed to describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of individuals involved in electric scooter (E-scooter) accidents and the factors associated with these incidents. ⋯ Given the increasing popularity of E-scooters as an alternative mode of transportation, our study can inform public policy on patterns of injuries associated with E-scooter utilization for future injury prevention policies. Using helmets, avoiding alcohol consumption, and regulating use at night can improve outcomes in E-scooter accidents.