The American journal of emergency medicine
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To determine the ability of prehospital end-tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO₂) to predict in-hospital mortality compared to conventional vital signs. ⋯ Of all prehospital vital signs, ETCO₂ was the most predictive and consistent for mortality, which may be related to an association with metabolic acidosis.
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To externally evaluate the accuracy of the new Vancouver Chest Pain Rule and to assess the diagnostic accuracy using either sensitive or highly sensitive troponin assays. ⋯ The new Vancouver Chest Pain Rule should be used for the identification of low risk patients presenting to EDs with symptoms of possible ACS, and will reduce the proportion of patients requiring lengthy assessment; however we recommend further outpatient investigation for coronary artery disease in patients identified as low risk.