Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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To assess the effectiveness of an emergency department (ED)-based strategy to identify and counsel selected patients about the importance of an operational smoke detector in the home and to offer a graded recommendation regarding such a strategy. ⋯ Following the criteria of the graded recommendations used for the parent project. a recommendation cannot be made either for or against an ED-based strategy to counsel patients on the importance of smoke detectors. No studies located in our review directly assessed the effectiveness of such a strategy. Based on the retrospective case series study of the potential opportunity for a home fire safety intervention during an emergency medical services visit and the Safe Block Project study, it may be worthwhile to consider further research on the effectiveness of systems-level/structural interventions, with a targeted focus on strategies that attempt to overcome barriers associated with active interventions.
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Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Children with first-time simple febrile seizures are at low risk of serious bacterial illness.
To describe the rates of serious bacterial illness (SBI) in children presenting to emergency departments (EDs) with first-time uncomplicated febrile seizures. ⋯ Rates of SBI in this multi-institution population of children with first-time simple febrile seizures were low and are consistent with those published in the literature for febrile children without seizures.
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With the increased use of rapid-sequence induction and its potential complications, emergency physicians need a rescue device for unexpected difficult intubations. The intubating laryngeal mask airway (ILMA) is an ideal rescue airway since it can be placed quickly and can provide adequate ventilation in nearly all patients. ⋯ In conjunction with their experience using the ILMA in the emergency department (ED), a modification of the American Society of Anesthesiologists difficult airway algorithm was derived for use in the ED. The ILMA appears to be valuable for managing difficult airways.
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This article, the last in a series on research methodology prepared by the Research Committee of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM), describes the process of journal selection, manuscript preparation, manuscript submission, and responding to editorial and reviewer comments. Methods for completing each step of this process are described. Following these methods will increase the chance of publishing one's work in the highest-quality and most appropriate journal.
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Review Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Preventive care in the emergency department: should emergency departments institute a falls prevention program for elder patients? A systematic review.
To perform a systematic review of the emergency medicine literature to assess the appropriateness of an intervention to identify, counsel, and refer emergency department (ED) patients >64 years old who are at high risk for falls. ⋯ Based on one randomized controlled trial demonstrating a significant reduction in the risk of further falls, the burden of suffering caused by falls, and other studies demonstrating the value of interventions to reduce the risk of falling, the authors recommend that EDs conduct research to evaluate the effectiveness of clinical interventions to identify, counsel, and refer ED patients >64 years old who are at high risk for an unintentional fall.