Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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To evaluate the effect of amrinone as a treatment for the hemodynamic effects of verapamil overdose in a canine model. ⋯ Amrinone appears to reverse the depressed cardiac index associated with verapamil overdose in a canine model while having no significant effect on the hypotension or bradycardia.
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To assess the usefulness of the complete blood count (CBC) and the reticulocyte count in the evaluation of adult patients with acute vasoocclusive sickle-cell crisis (SCC) presenting to the ED. ⋯ Determination of the Hb level and the reticulocyte count do not appear useful in the evaluation of acute SCC in the ED. Admission decisions appear associated with elevations in the WBC count. Further study is required to determine the true value of the WBC count in such decisions.
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To examine the concordance of pediatric radiograph interpretation between emergency medicine residents (EMRs) and radiologists. ⋯ 89.4% of all the radiographs interpreted by PGY1-3 residents were read correctly. Only 1.69% of the misinterpreted radiographs led to a change in management. Level of training did not significantly correlate with radiograph misinterpretation rates.
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Case Reports
Blood cultures in adult patients released from an urban emergency department: a 15-month experience.
To determine the frequency of positive blood cultures obtained from adult patients with potential occult bacteremia released from an urban ED and how often these positive cultures alter the subsequent patient course or management. ⋯ The prevalence of bacteremia was 1.8% among the released patients who had blood cultures obtained in the ED. Furthermore, only 0.52% of the patients had positive blood cultures that potentially affected their medical management. Further study is warranted to identify specific criteria for selecting ambulatory patients for whom the use of blood cultures may be cost-effective.
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An emergency medical services (EMS) curriculum, as developed by the SAEM Emergency Medical Services Committee, is provided for the training of emergency medicine residents in EMS.