Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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To determine appropriateness of out-of-hospital interventions by emergency medical services (EMS) personnel on children with respiratory illnesses. ⋯ Emergency medical services personnel underutilized oxygen and medications and overutilized vascular access, phlebotomy, and cardiac monitoring in children with respiratory illness in this urban setting. Increasing patient age, transport times, and illness severity tend to increase the use of certain interventions, while contact with online medical direction seems to improve appropriate use of interventions.
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Case Reports Historical Article
Abortifacients: toxidromes, ancient to modern--a case series and review of the literature.
Between 1998 and 1999, four women presented to an emergency department after having attempted a nonmedical abortion. All four reported turning to pharmacologically induced abortion because their access to health care was limited by lack of insurance and resources. These cases serve as a reminder that self-induced abortion remains a significant health problem for women, a problem that emergency physicians as toxicologists should be aware of.
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To determine the shift lengths currently worked by emergency medicine (EM) residents and their shift length preferences, and to determine factors associated with EM residents' subjective tolerance of shiftwork. ⋯ Emergency medicine residents generally tolerate shiftwork well and prefer 8-hour or 10-hour shift lengths compared with 12-hour shift lengths. Emergency medicine residencies with 12-hour shifts should consider changing residents' shifts to shorter shifts.
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The emergency department (ED) visit provides an opportunity for patient education. Many ED patients have poor access to regular health care, including patient education. ⋯ More importantly, published clinical studies evaluating patient education in both the ED and comparable settings support the hypothesis that ED-based patient education improves outcomes. The article discusses considerations for instructional material, highlights challenges to ED-based patient education, and suggests possibilities for future research.