Annals of emergency medicine
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A miniaturized, infrared, solid-state, end-tidal CO2 detector was used to confirm emergency endotracheal tube (ETT) placement. ⋯ This hand-held infrared capnometer reliably confirms ETT placement under emergency conditions.
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Open-chest cardiac massage is an effective method of resuscitation if instituted within 15 minutes of normothermic cardiac arrest that has failed to respond to ongoing closed-chest CPR efforts. The usefulness of invasive forms of CPR after various periods of untreated cardiac arrest is less certain. This study was performed to determine the effectiveness of open-chest resuscitation after prolonged periods of untreated cardiac arrest. ⋯ Open-chest cardiac massage did not produce long-term survival if untreated cardiac arrest persisted for 20 or more minutes prior to invasive resuscitation efforts.
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Comparative Study
An analysis of emergency department use by patients with minor illness.
To describe the motivation for emergency department use by patients with minor illnesses and compare the demographics and social class characteristics of these patients with those of the general ED population. ⋯ There are no major differences in ED use for minor illness patients from different racial, educational, and economic backgrounds. These patients tend to have a low frequency of chronic illness and often have no established health care provider. They choose the ED for its ease of access and the wide scope of care that can be delivered.
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The purpose of this study was to obtain information about how patients perceive the health care delivered in an emergency department. ⋯ The information given to patients on arrival at the ED may be important to a positive perception of the care given during their stay.
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Current American Heart Association guidelines recommend immediate defibrillation of ventricular fibrillation. When this is unsuccessful, there are no guidelines to help determine the optimum time at which to defibrillate after the administration of an alpha-adrenergic agonist. Previous studies have shown that the median frequency of the ventricular fibrillation ECG signal correlates with myocardial perfusion during CPR. We hypothesized that median frequency could predict the success of defibrillation and thus accurately determine the most appropriate time at which to defibrillate during ventricular fibrillation. ⋯ The median frequency may serve as a valuable parameter to guide defibrillation therapy during ventricular fibrillation.