Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Dec 2017
Multicenter StudyDo all adult orthopaedic injuries seen in emergency departments need to attend fracture clinic? A Queensland multicentred review.
Musculoskeletal injuries account for a significant proportion of ED presentations annually, with a large percentage being referred to the fracture clinic (FC). A literature review found that many referrals could be safely managed outside the traditional model of care. The present study aims to review all adult presentations to FCs at two Queensland metropolitan hospitals, finding low-risk injuries that can safely and appropriately be managed by their general practitioner (GP) or allied health professionals (AHPs), potentially affording significant savings to the health system. ⋯ Adopting the PCP could potentially reduce fracture clinic referrals by 40%. Having a structured pathway has the potential to empower primary health professionals, which could result in a more streamlined process that aids in significant time and financial savings and maintains good patient satisfaction and outcomes.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2017
Multicenter StudyEmergency airway management in Australian and New Zealand emergency departments: A multicentre descriptive study of 3710 emergency intubations.
The aim of this study was to describe the practice of endotracheal intubation across a range of Australasian EDs. ⋯ Australasian ED doctors, predominantly specialist emergency physicians or trainees, perform the majority of ED intubations using rapid sequence induction as their preferred technique mainly for medical indications. First attempt success rate was not different between different types of EDs, and is comparable published international data. Complications are not infrequent, and are comparable to other published series. Monitoring and reporting of ED intubation practice will enable continued improvements in the safety of this high-risk procedure.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2017
Multicenter Study Observational StudyAlcohol-related presentations to the Royal Perth Hospital Emergency Department: A prospective study.
To quantify and describe alcohol-related presentations to our ED, as part of the binational Alcohol Harm in Emergency Departments study. ⋯ 15.2% of patient presentations over the study week were alcohol-related. These patients were more likely to present with injury; one in five having injuries suspected to be caused by a third party affected by alcohol. This is a significant public health problem.
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Emerg Med Australas · Dec 2016
Multicenter Study Comparative StudyEnd-of-life issues: Withdrawal and withholding of life-sustaining healthcare in the emergency department: A comparison between emergency physicians and emergency registrars: A sub-study.
We investigated and compared the importance of the considerations and discussions when withdrawing and withholding life-sustaining healthcare between emergency physicians (EP) and emergency registrars (ER). ⋯ We found that ER were more likely to withdraw/withhold life-sustaining healthcare, provide partial treatment, rate different considerations as important and their patients took longer to die than that of EP. Focused education and training might improve decision-making consistency between physicians and training registrars.
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Emerg Med Australas · Dec 2016
Multicenter StudyImproving the non-technical skills of hospital medical emergency teams: The Team Emergency Assessment Measure (TEAM™).
This prospective descriptive study aimed to test the validity and feasibility of the Team Emergency Assessment Measure (TEAM™) for assessing real-world medical emergency teams' non-technical skills. Second, the present study aimed to explore the instrument's contribution to practice regarding teamwork and learning outcomes. ⋯ Non-technical skills of medical emergency teams are known to often be suboptimal; however, average ratings of 89% were achieved in this real-world study. TEAM™ is a valid, reliable and easy to use tool, for both training and clinical settings, with benefits for team performance when used as an assessment and/or debriefing tool.