Annals of emergency medicine
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To determine the effectiveness of a cervical-spine immobilization using a rigid cervical extrication collar and an Ammerman halo orthosis with and without spine boards. ⋯ A rigid cervical collar and a spine board provide significantly better immobilization than the collar alone. Further immobilization is provided by an Ammerman halo orthosis.
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To assess the timing of key decisions and clinical events in the treatment of acute myocardial infarction with thrombolytic therapy. ⋯ Thrombolytics should be stocked and started in the ED. Emergency physicians should generally make the decision to administer thrombolytic therapy with reference to accepted protocols without awaiting an ED consultation from either private attendings or cardiologists.
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The Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, the largest single-day, single-venue sporting event in the world, is attended by an estimated 400,000 people. Major illness and injury are treated at the Hanna Emergency Medical Center, the track hospital. Minor illness is treated at ten outlying aid stations. ⋯ Descriptive data regarding medical care of crowds may be useful to emergency specialists who must staff, order supplies, and plan treatment facilities for similar mass gatherings. It is evident from this and other mass-gathering studies that there is a need for consistency in nomenclature and data collection. This will allow more accurate comparisons of emergency medical care between venues.
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Decreased response times for injury should decrease the morbidity and mortality of trauma. The 911 telephone access is designed to improve the response time for emergencies. The purpose of this study was to analyze the association between county 911 access and per-capita county trauma death rates. ⋯ Although counties with 911 access had lower trauma death rates by t-test, multivariate analysis showed no significant independent association of 911 access with per-capita county trauma death rates. In the ten counties that implemented 911 access in 1987, no significant changes in trauma death rates occurred after implementation. Although other factors may explain these findings, this study showed no significant independent impact of 911 access on per-capita county trauma death rates.