Articles: emergency-services.
-
Retrospective study. ⋯ Patients at a higher risk of presenting to the ED postoperatively should be identified and may benefit from additional counseling and access to the care team virtually to limit unnecessary healthcare utilization. Focusing on patients who reach out via EPP messaging postoperatively may be a good target patient group to address first. Future research is needed to investigate the possible health literacy and other socioeconomic barriers affecting these patients so that appropriate, more cost-effective resources can be utilized to avoid clinically unnecessary and costly ED visits.
-
Pediatric emergency care · Jan 2025
Impact of a Helmet Distribution Program in the Pediatric Emergency Department.
Bicycle helmet use has repeatedly been shown to protect riders from serious injury. Despite this, a majority of children and adolescents do not regularly wear helmets. Our primary objective was to determine if an emergency department (ED)-based helmet distribution program could increase the amount of time children report wearing helmets. ⋯ Helmet distribution programs based in the pediatric ED increase rates of bicycle helmet usage among pediatric patients. Additional study is needed to determine effect on head injury prevention.
-
The risk of falls increases with age and often requires an emergency medical service (EMS) response. We compared the characteristics of patients attended by EMS in response to repeat falls within 30 days and 12 months of their first EMS-attended fall; and explored the number of days between the index fall and the subsequent fall(s). ⋯ Nearly 30% of all patients attended by EMS for a fall, sustained repeat falls, which collectively accounted for nearly 60% of all EMS-attendances to fall-related incidents. Further exploration of the role EMS clinicians play in identifying and referring patients who sustain repeat falls into alternative pathways is needed.
-
To determine the prevalence and pattern of hypoglycemia among children admitted to the Emergency Pediatric Unit (EPU) at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Maiduguri, Nigeria. ⋯ Hypoglycemia is a common occurrence among children admitted to the EPU. Factors such as being under five years old, in a coma, weakness, severe malaria, and prolonged fasting were all identified as independent predictors of hypoglycemia. Therefore, routine blood glucose monitoring of children admitted to the EPU, specifically those at higher risk, is recommended.
-
Observational Study
Impact of urgent care centers on emergency department visits in Al Madina Al Munawara: A pre-post study.
To evaluate the impact of UCCs on reducing non-urgent Emergency Department (ED) visits and improving patient flow, focusing on metrics such as door-to-doctor time, doctor-to-decision time, and overall patient disposition. ⋯ The study shows that while urgent care centers in Al Madina Al Munawara have improved efficiency for some patient categories, they don't fully achieve expected reductions in waiting times and patient flow. Seasonal variations, limited patient awareness, and data constraints affect outcomes.