Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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The New South Wales (NSW) Health Department and the Ambulance Service of NSW introduced a trauma bypass system in Sydney on 29 March 1992. This study aims to review the outcomes of trauma bypass patients brought to St George Hospital, a major trauma service in south-eastern Sydney, and to assess the performance of the current prehospital trauma triage protocol. ⋯ According to the proposed benchmark, current prehospital trauma triage guidelines are underperforming. This suggests that a review of the benchmarks of current local trauma systems and of the trauma triage tool is required.
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2005
Comparative StudyHow accurate is weight estimation in the emergency department?
To determine the accuracy of medical staff, nursing staff and patients for estimating weight in an ED population. ⋯ Patients are generally accurate in estimating their true weight and health care workers showed only moderate accuracy. Where possible, drug dose calculations should be based on measured weight and if this is not possible, patient estimate of weight should be sought. Health care worker estimation should be used only when this is not possible.
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2005
Boarder belly: splenic injuries resulting from ski and snowboarding accidents.
Snowboarding has increased in popularity worldwide, with an associated increase in injuries suffered by its participants with a significant proportion of these injuries being severe. We sought to understand the risk of sustaining a splenic injury in snowboarders as compared to skiers, and whether there are noteworthy differences in their characteristics at hospital admission. ⋯ The risk of sustaining an injury of the spleen resulting from blunt abdominal trauma while snowboarding is significantly greater than the risk while downhill skiing. Male snowboarders have a significantly higher risk of splenic injury than female snowboarders. In the majority of cases, snowboarders sustained their injuries as a result of falls or jumps.