Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Community consultation is a required element of research studies that use a waiver of or exception from informed consent. Its intent is to provide an additional patient safeguard in emergency research circumstances when prospective informed consent is not possible. ⋯ This article presents a brief overview of the sparse literature available on the process of community consultation since the inception of the current emergency research regulations. To determine if the process is meeting its goals, more research will be required.
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To examine antibiotic prescribing trends for U.S. emergency department (ED) visits with upper respiratory tract infections (URIs) between 1993 and 2004. ⋯ Antibiotic prescribing for URIs continues to decrease, a favorable trend that suggests that national efforts to reduce inappropriate antibiotic usage are having some success. Nevertheless, the frequency of antibiotic treatment for URI in the ED remains high (35%). Future efforts to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing may focus on patients and physicians in southern U.S. EDs. Additional work is needed to address continued evidence of race-related disparities in care.
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To examine the effects of emergency department (ED) expansion on ambulance diversion at an urban, academic Level 1 trauma center. ⋯ An increase in ED bed capacity did not affect ambulance diversion. Instead, total and admission hold LOS increased. As a result, ED expansion appears to be an insufficient solution to improve diversion without addressing other bottlenecks in the hospital.