Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Little is known about the prevalence and health effects of hunger among ED patients. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of hunger among patients in a large urban ED and to examine whether it has adverse health effects. ⋯ The ED patients in this urban setting have high rates of hunger and many must make choices between buying food and medicine, which patients report results in otherwise preventable ED visits and hospitalization. Loss or reduction of food stamps is associated with increased hunger and increased perceived adverse health outcomes as a result of not being able to afford medicine.
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Differences in interpretation of the residency review committee (RRC) directive concerning resident scholarly activity have resulted in inconsistencies in the practical fulfillment of this responsibility among the various training programs in emergency medicine. During a workshop organized by the SAEM Research Directors' Interest Group (RDIG), a consensus statement was developed regarding the scope, definition, and purpose of the scholarly project requirement. ⋯ While each residency program must implement the RRC residency requirements in a manner that best suits the needs and culture of its individual environment, a concurrence of definition and approach to satisfying the scholarly project requirement would provide better consistency in resident training. Guidelines developed by consensus during the SAEM RDIG workshop may serve as a general recipe that can be used to fulfill the goals of the scholarly project and the spirit of the RRC directive.
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To determine the effects of body temperature, ethanol use, electrolyte status, and acid-base status on the electrocardiograms (ECGs) of hypothermic patients. ⋯ The presence and size of the Osborn waves in hypothermic patients appear to be a function of temperature. The magnitude of the Osborn waves is inversely correlated with the temperature.
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To describe and compare national trends in ED use by statistical analyses on data from the 1992 to 1996 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) with a special interest in factors related to nonurgent visits. ⋯ Analyses of data from the NHAMCS identify trends in ED use. The study of nonurgent ED visits with this database has inherent methodologic problems such as retrospective coding and geographic coding inconsistency. Since the nonurgent visit is clearly linked to certain social-demographic factors, addressing these underlying issues by establishing a comprehensive health care system is a priority.
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To determine whether a geographic information system (GIS) and historical transport data can be used to create a map that identifies locations (zones) from which either ambulance or helicopter transport will result in shorter out-of-hospital times. ⋯ A GIS and historical transport data can be used to create a map identifying locations from which either helicopter or ambulance transport will minimize out-of-hospital time. Inappropriate choice of transport mode is associated with increased out-of-hospital time.