Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2021
ReviewReview article: Implicit bias towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients within Australian emergency departments.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples continue to suffer adverse experiences in healthcare, with inequitable care prevalent in emergency settings. Individual, institutional and systemic factors play a significant part in these persisting healthcare disparities, with biases remaining entrenched in healthcare institutions. ⋯ Furthermore, it may contribute to distrust of medical professionals resulting in higher rates of leave events and hinder racial minorities from seeking care or following treatment recommendations. The aim of this review is to analyse the effect of implicit bias on patient outcomes in the ED in international literature and explore how these studies correlate to an Australian context.
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Aeromedical services are an essential part of the healthcare system. Centralised coordination of aeromedical retrieval tasking offers benefits for safety, timeliness and efficiency in service delivery. The aim of the present study is to review aeromedical retrievals in Queensland exploring patient demographics, temporal patterns and usage characteristics. ⋯ Potential investments in health service planning may alleviate the burden on aeromedical services, particularly related to cardiology services in inner and outer regional Queensland. Aeromedical services are pivotal in enabling all sick and injured residents' access to the highest quality of care regardless of the remoteness of their residence.
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2021
ReviewReview article: Up (to) date for Australian Toxicology and Toxinology guidelines.
Poisoned patients commonly present to EDs. The optimal management of these patients is constantly evolving as new evidence emerges. Textbooks cannot be updated regularly enough to incorporate these changes, and their advice may not reflect the current practice of experts. ⋯ Important key changes include: updated advice on decontamination, particularly use of activated charcoal; stepwise escalation in supportive care, including guidance on the most appropriate inotropes for each agent and antidote recommendations for specific poisoning scenarios. Toxicology and Toxinology covers more than 100 poisoning topics and offers more detailed risk assessment, management and disposition advice. It is a valuable evidence-based resource for the management of poisoned patients.
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2021
Epidemiology, treatment and outcome of patients with lower respiratory tract infection presenting to emergency departments with dyspnoea (AANZDEM and EuroDEM studies).
Lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) is a frequent cause of dyspnoea in EDs, and is associated with considerable morbidity and mortality. We described and compared the management of this disease in Europe and Oceania/South-East Asia (SEA) cohorts. ⋯ More patients with LRTI in Europe presented with cardio-respiratory comorbidities, they received more adjunct therapies and had a higher intensive care unit admission rate than patients from Oceania/SEA, although mortality was similar between the two cohorts.