Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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To determine the rate of clinically significant recurrence of symptoms in patients treated for anaphylaxis in the ED. ⋯ Recurrent anaphylactic reactions were rare, occurring in 3% of cases and without life threat in this patient population. Selective outpatient management of patients with severe anaphylactic reactions that promptly respond to therapy with complete, rapid resolution may be reasonable. Further study of this medical emergency is required to develop criteria to guide the choice of an outpatient disposition.
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An educational program that teaches undergraduate students about clinical research related to emergency medicine is described. The students work as research assistants within the ED, thus providing a departmental framework for the enrollment of patients in clinical studies. Volunteers interested in the program undergo a physical examination, vaccination history, and standard serologic testing, and sit through a formal blood and body fluid exposure course offered by the university prior to their clinical research participation. ⋯ While there was only 1 faculty member with a research publication in 1992, there were 9 faculty with manuscripts accepted for publication in the first 6 months of 1996. Similarly, more nurses and ancillary staff have become involved in prospective clinical research. Much of this success is attributed to the novel use of resources through the academic associate program.
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To summarize the processes used to develop a curriculum and model of care for the emergency medical treatment of elder patients and to assess the efficacy of the teaching material in a pilot course. ⋯ The process of developing a curriculum for geriatric EM is described. The initial training of instructors was effective in improving participants' knowledge of geriatric issues in EM. Participants considered the training to be effective. The effect of the training on the emergency care of elder persons remains to be determined.
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To identify clinical factors that predict which patients presenting to the ED with pneumonia will require respiratory isolation for suspected tuberculosis and to evaluate a protocol for rapid identification of patients at risk for pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). ⋯ Respiratory isolation guidelines for patients admitted from the ED with pneumonia were developed and validated. These guidelines provide satisfactory guidance for isolation of patients at risk for PTB in a high-PTB-prevalence population.
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Comparative Study
Comparison of patient satisfaction and practitioner satisfaction with wound appearance after traumatic wound repair.
Existing cosmetic scales for wounds are based only on practitioners' evaluations. They have not been validated using the patient's assessment. ⋯ Lacerations that practitioners considered to have optimal cosmetic appearances at the time of suture removal received higher patient satisfaction scores than did lacerations considered to be suboptimal. This provides a measure of validity to this 6-item categorical cosmetic scale.