Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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To describe the availability of next-of-kin (NOK) for proxy consent over the 24-hour time period following presentation of major trauma patients to a Level I trauma center. ⋯ One third of the trauma patients in this study did not have NOK available two hours following arrival in the emergency department. For time-critical research protocols, the time to NOK contact can significantly impact the ability to ensure prompt enrollment and treatment in clinical trials. Further studies are needed to assess the generalizability and consistency of these data.
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To characterize psychiatric-related emergency department visits (PREDVs) among adults in the United States for the year 2000 and to analyze PREDV trends from 1992 to 2000. ⋯ Psychiatric-related ED visits represent a substantial and growing number of ED visits each year. Patient characteristics influence the likelihood of a PREDV. Further research is needed to better understand the role that hospital EDs play in the delivery of health care services to those with mental illness.
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Death from acute drug poisoning, also termed drug overdose, is a substantial public health problem. Little is known regarding the role of emergency medical services (EMS) in critical drug poisonings. This study investigates the involvement and potential mortality benefit of EMS for critical drug poisonings, characterized by cardiovascular collapse requiring cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). ⋯ In this community, EMS was involved in the majority of acute drug poisonings characterized by cardiovascular collapse and may potentially lower total mortality by approximately 4.5%. The results show that, in some survivors, return of spontaneous circulation may be achieved with CPR alone, suggesting a different pathophysiology in drug poisoning compared with cardiac arrest due to heart disease.
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To determine how often emergency physicians (EPs) scanning the abdominal aorta (AA) of nonfasted emergency department (ED) patients are able to visualize the entire AA. ⋯ Significant portions of AA (at least one third of its length) were not visualized on bedside US in 8% of nonfasted patients; this rate is higher than radiology studies of fasted patients receiving US for evaluation of their aortas.