Annals of emergency medicine
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Comparative Study
Effects of adding links to "the chain of survival" for prehospital cardiac arrest: a contrast in outcomes in 1975 and 1995 at a single institution.
The concept of a "chain of survival" to improve outcome from prehospital cardiac arrest has been defined and promulgated over the last two decades. The purpose of this study was to compare outcomes of prehospital cardiac arrest in 1975 and 1995 at a single institution. ⋯ Survival decreased dramatically during the 20-year study period. This may be because of the high incidence of chronic disease, the greater frequency of asystole and pulseless electrical activity, and the inclusion of patients with "end-of-life" arrests in which ACLS protocol was initiated in the 1995 cohort. The patient population in which ACLS is initiated is the weakest link in the "chain of survival."
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Improved survival rates and more centers performing liver transplantation have resulted in increasing numbers of liver transplant recipients presenting to emergency departments. This article familiarizes emergency physicians with orthotopic liver transplantation and complications that cause liver transplant recipients to visit EDs. Savitsky EA, Üner AB, Votey SR: Evaluation of orthotopic liver transplant recipients presenting to the emergency department. Ann Emerg Med April 1998;31:507-517.].
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To evaluate the associations between selected socioeconomic risk factors and acute injury from domestic violence against women. ⋯ Of the socioeconomic variables examined in this preliminary study, a history of alcohol abuse by the male partner, as reported by the female partner, was the strongest predictor for acute injury from domestic violence. A large-scale, multicenter, ED-based study is needed to clarify the relation between alcohol abuse, other socioeconomic factors, and acute physical assaults against women by their intimate male partners.
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[Paganussi PJ: I stood: Observations of an emergency physician. Ann Emerg Med April 1998;31:521-523.].