Articles: emergency-services.
-
The study was carried out at the Emergency Department of Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Hospital, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India, to ascertain the pattern of trauma in the patients. A total of 2446 trauma cases were recorded in the year 1987. ⋯ Fractures (44%) were the most frequently observed nature of injury. Death due to trauma was highest in motor-vehicle collisions (31%) followed by accidental falls (16%), and occupational injuries (12%).
-
In an attempt to establish what the general practitioner expects from an accident and emergency department, and how closely the service provided correlates with that view, a 12-point questionnaire was sent to the general practitioners in the Glasgow Royal Infirmary catchment area. Out of the 61.2% of general practitioners who replied, the majority wish to have responsibility for their own patients for conditions which are neither accidents nor emergencies. There is less agreement as to how much should be done within an accident and emergency department and on the appropriate modes of referral and communication between the general practitioner and the hospital service. Further consultation and cooperation are necessary to interpret and resolve these differences.
-
It is still a common practice to continue unsuccessful field resuscitations in the emergency department (ED) even after prolonged estimated down times. The authors studied patients who arrested in the field and did not regain a pulse before their arrival in the ED to determine if any ever leave the hospital neurologically intact. All cardiac arrests in the urban St Louis area that were brought to our facility over a 2 1/2-year period by advanced life support units (excluding all patients with hypothermia, drug overdose, near drowning, and traumatic cardiac arrest) were reviewed. ⋯ Eighteen of these patients were admitted but only one was discharged neurologically intact. The only survivor in the group without a pulse arrested while en route to the ED. It is concluded that cardiac arrest victims who arrive in the ED without a pulse on arrival or en route have almost no chance of functional recovery.