The American journal of emergency medicine
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The global COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on the utilization of healthcare services; however, the impact on population-level emergency department (ED) utilization patterns for the treatment of acute injuries has not been fully characterized. ⋯ Both ED avoidance and decreased exposures may have contributed to these declines, creating implications for injury morbidity and mortality. Injury outcomes exacerbated by the pandemic should be addressed by timely public health responses.
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Observational Study
Type of bystander and rate of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in nursing home patients suffering out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
We investigated bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) provision rate and survival outcomes of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients in nursing homes by bystander type. ⋯ Although OHCA was detected more often by non-medical staff, they provided bystander CPR less frequently than the medical staff did. To improve survival outcome of nursing home OHCA, bundle interventions including increasing the usage of automated external defibrillators and expanding CPR training for non-medical staff in nursing home are needed.
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Alteplase is the standard of care for early pharmacologic thrombolysis after acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Alteplase is also considered a high-alert medication and is fraught with potential for error. We sought to describe the difference in medication error rates in in patients receiving alteplase for acute ischemic stroke from regional hospitals compared to patients receiving alteplase at the Comprehensive Stroke Center. ⋯ The error rate of alteplase infusion for ischemic stroke is high, particularly in patients from referring centers. Errors may be associated with adverse events. Further education and administration safeguards should be implemented to decrease the risk of medication errors.
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Gender gaps have been described regarding the chairpersons in academic emergency departments, the composition of editorial boards and publications in emergency medicine. The objective of this study was to determine the gender distribution of chairpersons and board members of emergency medicine societies worldwide. ⋯ A marked gender disparity was found for emergency medicine societies worldwide in terms of chair functions as well as board composition. Wide regional differences were found between world regions.
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As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and highly contagious nature of SARS-CoV-2, emergency departments (EDs) have been forced to implement new measures and protocols to minimize the spread of the disease within their departments. The primary objective of this study was to determine if the implementation of a designated COVID-19 cohort area (hot zone) within a busy ED mitigated the dissemination of SARS-CoV-2 throughout the rest of the department. ⋯ A designated COVID-19 cohort area resulted in no air or surface contamination outside of the hot zone, and only minimal air, but no surface contamination, within the hot zone.