Articles: emergency-medicine.
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In London, Ont. two mock disaster exercises have indicated the need for re-evaluating the role of medical disaster teams. To coordinate and direct these teams a medical on-site coordinating team, composed of three emergency physicians with an expanded and more clearly defined role, was formed. ⋯ In addition, the communication systems, availability and deployment of medical supplies, identification of medical personnel and tagging of casualties are discussed. Because a mass casualty episode is possible in any community, disaster planning and clear outlining of the role of medical disaster teams are needed.
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A Medical Specialty Preference Inventory (MSPI) containing 199 items relating to the practice of medicine was developed through ratings by a national sample of over 1,000 board certified physicians in internal medicine, obstetrics-gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry, surgery, and family practice. Sixty-one emergency physicians completed the MSPI for emergency medicine. ⋯ Results showed emergency medicine most similar to surgery and least similar to psychiatry, although the similarity to surgery was two standard deviations below the mean overall surgery score. A more extensive and systematic effort to characterize emergency medicine using the MSPI rating system could create a national representative factorial characterization of emergency medicine to be used by medical students and physicians when choosing a specialty.