Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2025
Effectiveness of a Disability Liaison Officer service in a metropolitan emergency department.
To identify the influence of a Disability Liaison Officer (DLO) service in the ED setting on people with disability (PWD). For this project, PWD included adults with communication disability, intellectual disability or autism spectrum disorder. ⋯ The DLO service was associated with a reduction in ED LOS for PWD. Further assessment of the service using patient- and carer-reported outcome measures and cost-effectiveness studies are indicated.
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2025
Utility of computed tomography brain scans in intubated patients with overdose.
Describe the yield of computed tomography brain (CTB) scans in patients intubated for drug overdose. ⋯ Routine imaging of patients intubated for overdose without clinical indication is unjustified.
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2025
What proportion of women presenting to the emergency department with early pregnancy bleeding receive appropriate care?
To determine the proportion of women presenting to EDs across a regional health district, with early pregnancy bleeding, who received appropriate care. ⋯ Variation in care for women presenting with early pregnancy bleeding to ED was identified. There is an evidence-practice gap and need for inquiry into barriers and facilitators to prescribed clinical practice for this population.
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2025
Prisoners in the emergency department: Lessons from a recent inquest.
The recent coronial finding in Victoria into the death of Joshua (Josh) Kerr highlights some of the challenges of treating patients who are in custody and under the supervision of custodial staff (prison officers or police) in the ED. Issues include ED clinicians' duty of care, roles and responsibilities of ED staff and custodial staff and the need for processes that facilitate collaboration and communication between ED clinicians and custodial staff.
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2025
Observational StudyAmbulance offload performance, patient characteristics and disposition for patients offloaded to different areas of the emergency department.
Ambulance transfer of care (TOC) is a key performance indicator for New South Wales EDs, with 90% of ambulances to be offloaded within 30 min of arrival. Nepean Hospital ED has a number of strategies to improve TOC, including ambulatory areas where patients can be offloaded immediately. Offload data are supplied by ambulance and there is no study into its accuracy. The aim is to audit the accuracy of ambulance data of TOC compared to times recorded in the Nepean ED information system, and to examine TOC and patient demographics for different offload destinations. ⋯ Patients arriving by ambulance requiring an acute care bed were likely to be elderly and frail, and suffered substantial ambulance offload delays. Delays to ambulance offload for these patients is likely driven by acute care bed availability and access block.