Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Clinical Trial
R-wave amplitude in lead II of an electrocardiograph correlates with central hypovolemia in human beings.
Previous animal and human experiments have suggested that reduction in central blood volume either increases or decreases the amplitude of R waves in various electrocardiograph (ECG) leads depending on underlying pathophysiology. In this investigation, we used graded central hypovolemia in adult volunteer subjects to test the hypothesis that moderate reductions in central blood volume increases R-wave amplitude in lead II of an ECG. ⋯ These results support our hypothesis that reduction of central blood volume in human beings is associated with increased R-wave amplitude in lead II of an ECG.
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The purpose of this study was to determine the concordance of the Broselow tape with the measured heights and weights of a community-based population of children, especially in light of the increase in obesity in today's children. ⋯ The Broselow tape color-coded system inaccurately predicted actual weight in one third of children. Caregivers need to take into consideration the accuracy of this device when estimating children's weight during the resuscitation of a child.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Digital versus local anesthesia for finger lacerations: a randomized controlled trial.
To compare the pain of needle insertion, anesthesia, and suturing in finger lacerations after local anesthesia with prior topical anesthesia with that experienced after digital anesthesia. ⋯ Digital and local anesthesia of finger lacerations with prior application of LET to all wounds results in similar pain of needle insertion, anesthetic infiltration, and pain of suturing.
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Paramedics, who often are the first to provide emergency care to critically ill patients, must be proficient in endotracheal intubation (ETI). Training in the controlled operating room (OR) setting is a common method for learning basic ETI technique. ⋯ Despite its key role in airway management education, the quantity and nature of OR ETI training that is available to paramedic students is limited in comparison to that available to other ETI providers.
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Effective clinical teaching in emergency departments (EDs) presents unique challenges. No validated approaches to enhancing ED teaching have been reported. The authors evaluated the effectiveness of a novel one-day evidence-based, skills-oriented faculty development course tailored to ED teachers (ED STAT!). ⋯ ED STAT! improves participants' knowledge about ED-specific teaching strategies, and this improvement is maintained at one month. Participants reported high satisfaction and a positive effect on teaching behavior.