The American journal of emergency medicine
-
Drowning may happen by accident or as a method of committing suicide. The aim of this study was to determine some characteristics of drowning patients who committed intentionally. ⋯ Intentional drowning happened more in older subjects and presented lower initial body temperature. Walking from the riverside happened more often than jumping off a bridge. More males died of drowning regardless of intentionality.
-
The aim of this study was to evaluate bioimpedance vector analysis (BIVA) for the diagnosis of acute heart failure (AHF) in patients presenting with acute dyspnea to the emergency department (ED). ⋯ In a population of patients presenting to the ED with dyspnea, BIVA was significantly related to the AHF status but did not improve the diagnostic performance for AHF in addition to BNP alone.
-
There is a high prevalence of smoking among caregivers who bring their children to the pediatric emergency department (PED) and even higher rates of tobacco smoke exposure (TSE) and related morbidity among their children. The PED visit presents an opportunity to intervene with caregivers, but it is unknown whether they are more likely to quit if their child has a TSE-related illness. We sought to examine a PED-based smoking cessation intervention and compare outcomes based on children's TSE-related illness. ⋯ A brief PED-based smoking cessation intervention resulted in quit attempts and successful quits. However, the presence of a TSE-related illness did not result in different cessation outcomes.
-
Falls among older adults (aged ≥65 years) are the leading cause of both injury deaths and emergency department (ED) visits for trauma. We examine the characteristics and prevalence of older adult ED fallers as well as the recurrent ED visit and mortality rate. ⋯ More than one-third of older adult ED fall patients had an ED revisit or died within 1 year. Falls are one of the geriatric syndromes that contribute to frequent ED revisits and death rates. Future research should determine whether falls increase the risk of such outcomes and how to prevent future fall and death.
-
Acute otitis media (AOM) is a common diagnosis under age 5 years. The primary objective was to determine if the CellScope Oto (CSO) improves tympanic membrane (TM) visualization and diagnostic precision compared to traditional otoscope. The secondary objective was to determine physician, patient, and parent device preference. ⋯ CellScope Oto was preferred by physicians, patients, and parents. Use of the CSO changed final diagnosis a significant number of times, including clinically relevant changes to/from AOM.