Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Cluster surveillance, identification, and containment are primary outbreak management techniques; however, adapting these for low- and middle-income countries is an ongoing challenge. We aimed to evaluate the utility of prehospital call center ambulance dispatch (CCAD) data for surveillance by examining the correlation between influenza-like illness (ILI)-related dispatch calls and COVID-19 cases. ⋯ The statistically significant time series correlation between ILI calls and COVID-19 cases suggests prehospital CCAD can be part of early warning systems aiding outbreak cluster surveillance, identification, and containment.
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Observational Study
Inter-rater Reliability of the Clinical Frailty Scale by Staff Members in a Swedish Emergency Department Setting.
As frailty among the elderly is receiving increasing attention in emergency departments (EDs) around the world, the use of frailty assessment tools is growing. An often used such tool is the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS), whose inter-rater reliability has been sparingly investigated in ED settings. No inter-rater reliability study regarding CFS has previously been performed within the Scandinavian ED context. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the inter-rater reliability of the CFS in a Swedish ED setting. ⋯ The CFS appears to have a moderate to good inter-rater reliability when used in a clinical ED setting. When guiding clinical decisions, we advise that the CFS score should be discussed within the team. Further research needs to be performed on the accuracy of clinical judgment to identify frailty in ED patients.
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Massive blood transfusion (MBT) following older adult trauma poses unique challenges. Despite extensive evidence on optimal resuscitative strategies in the younger adult patients, there is limited research in the older adult population. ⋯ Compared to all other ratios, the 1:1 FFP:pRBC ratio had the lowest 24-h and 30-day mortality following older adult trauma consistent with findings in the younger adult population.
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Housing insecurity is prevalent among emergency department (ED) patients. Despite a surge of interest in screening for patients' social needs including housing insecurity, little research has examined ED social needs interventions. We worked together with government and community partners to develop and pilot test a homelessness prevention intervention targeted to ED patients with drug or unhealthy alcohol use. ⋯ This pilot intervention was feasible and well received by participants though it required a large amount of screening to identify potentially eligible patients. Our findings will inform a larger future trial and may be informative for others seeking to develop similar interventions.