Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Dec 2024
ReviewReview article: Strategies to improve emergency department care for adults living with disability: A systematic review.
Equitable access means that timely, sensitive and respectful treatment is offered to all people. Adults with disability access ED care more frequently than the general population. However, in Australia and internationally, people with disability experience poorer healthcare access and outcomes than the general population. ⋯ Three studies focused on the needs of people with intellectual disability, and one created a specific treatment pathway for people experiencing status epilepticus. No studies evaluated across patient experience, patient outcomes, system performance and staff experience, with limited evaluation of patient outcomes and system performance measures. We have referenced helpful resources published elsewhere and drawn from our previous reviews of ED care to provide guidance for the development and evaluation of targeted initiatives.
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Emerg Med Australas · Dec 2024
Ocular trauma in badminton: A 5-year review of badminton-related eye injury emergency department presentations.
To examine the nature and severity of badminton-related ocular injuries in Melbourne, Australia. ⋯ Hyphaema, commotio retinae and traumatic uveitis were the most commonly diagnosed injuries. The majority of patients with badminton-related eye injuries required medical treatment, and some necessitated surgical intervention. To mitigate these risks, there is a pressing need to develop an eye safety policy for Australian badminton players, and players should exercise caution when wearing spectacles during play to prevent potential penetrating eye injuries.
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Emerg Med Australas · Dec 2024
Recommendations for developing a comprehensive point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) program in the emergency department: an Emergency Medicine Ultrasound Group advocacy statement.
Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) use is widespread in EDs and throughout those practising medicine. Between institutions and specialities, there is widespread variety and training. With this comes the risk of patient harm and backlash to a clinically useful modality. Our objective is to form a statement that encompasses current published and unpublished guidance for creating and maintaining robust POCUS programs in EDs. ⋯ These recommendations complement existing guidelines and are not intended to replace them; however, we hope to promote discussion and provide reference support for those developing POCUS programs. Implementing a comprehensive and robust ED POCUS program will ensure safe, effective and standardised high-quality POCUS use, with the aim of improving patient care across Australia and New Zealand. Patient safety will be enhanced through effective risk management and quality assurance and there will be consistency in POCUS education, training and credentialing across institutions.
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Emerg Med Australas · Dec 2024
ReviewReview article: A primer for clinical researchers in the emergency department: Part XIII. Strategies to engage staff and enhance participant recruitment in emergency department research.
Conducting research in ED is important and necessary to improve emergency care. Effective recruitment is an essential ingredient for the success of a research project and must be carefully monitored. ⋯ In this paper, a group of experienced research coordinators from Australia and New Zealand have shared their strategies to engage staff and enhance recruitment of participants in emergency research. Although this paper is from a paediatric research network, the findings are applicable for EDs in general, both in Australasia and elsewhere.
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Emerg Med Australas · Dec 2024
'You mean you're not doing it already?' A national sentinel toxico-surveillance system for detecting illicit, emerging and novel psychoactive drugs in presentations to emergency departments.
Patients presenting to the ED after using illicit drugs, including novel psychoactive substances, are a unique source of information on substances that are directly causing acute harm in the community. Conventionally, illicit drug intoxications are assessed and managed in EDs based on self-report and presenting symptoms, with no objective data on the causative agent. ⋯ The key benefit of EDNA is the capacity to provide timely laboratory-confirmed toxicology data on emerging drug-related threats in the community. This leads to improvements in clinical, forensic laboratory and public health harm reduction responses, reflecting rapid translation of the research.