Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Jun 2016
Observational StudyEstimation of the potential eye and tissue donor pool in an Australian emergency department.
EDs have long been considered a potential source of eye and tissue donors, but no specific evidence to support this was identified in the Australian setting. The present study aims to bridge that knowledge gap, by analysing medical and social histories of those who have died over a 5 year period so as to determine donation eligibility in this population. ⋯ The present study has identified a large pool of potential eye and tissue donors; a pool mostly unrecognised by emergency clinicians. An extensive list of exclusion criteria restricts donor potential. However, the present study has identified that only five fundamentally limit donation in the ED population. Utilisation of this knowledge will allow for the development of clinical triggers that will improve identification, and increase realisation, of potential donors.
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Emergency Medicine pioneered the use of ultrasound at the bedside. All of the Colleges of Emergency Medicine in the Anglo-American system have incorporated Emergency Ultrasound into their training curriculum, and all but ACEM have made training and proficiency mandatory. ⋯ It is a unique procedure that requires a College mandate to overcome the political and financial arguments that have kept it from flourishing in our hospitals. ACEM needs to instate such a mandate.