Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Smoking remains the leading preventable cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. The efficacy of emergency department (ED)-based patient screening and counseling for smoking cessation is not currently known. ⋯ Strong evidence exists, in the primary care setting, that smoking cessation screening and counseling are effective. Limited data exist for ED-based practice, but, based on the burden of disease, relative ease of intervention, and likely efficacy, routine screening of all patients for tobacco use and referral of smokers to primary care and cessation programs are recommended.
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To systematically review the medical literature in order to determine the strength of the recommendation for screening and brief intervention (SBI) for alcohol-related problems in the emergency department (ED) setting. ⋯ The authors recommend that SBI for alcohol-related problems in the ED be incorporated into clinical practice.
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To systematically review the medical literature in order to determine the strength of the recommendation for screening and brief intervention (SBI) for alcohol-related problems in the emergency department (ED) setting. ⋯ The authors recommend that SBI for alcohol-related problems in the ED be incorporated into clinical practice.
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Traumatic injury and its sequelae remain a major, unrecognized public health problem in North America. Traumatic injury is the principal cause of death in patients aged 1-44 years and the overall leading cause of life-years lost in the United States. Recognizing this, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), in conjunction with other federal agencies, organized a conference in June 2000 to discuss the basic and clinical research needs that could lead to improved outcomes following cardiopulmonary or post injury resuscitation. ⋯ A coordinated trauma research program should aim to replicate the success achieved by such programs; however, a centralized federal "home" for trauma research does not exist. Consequently, the existing limited research support is derived from NIH institutes in addition to other federal and state agencies. This report serves to describe some of the obstacles and outline various strategies and priorities for basic science, clinical, and translational trauma resuscitation research.
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Medical education has adopted the use of digital photography and other computer technology, which has changed the face of the classroom. Today's presentations couple a computer and digital projection system to create powerful teaching tools. Integration of quality medical images enhances presentations in a way never before possible and at a much lower cost. ⋯ Services are available on the Internet that offer images for sale, but the cost to obtain images is high. Many institutions of higher learning provide images on the Internet for free, but the quality, number of available images, server capacity, and issues of consent limit the availability of these images. The authors describe their experience in collecting more than 20,000 clinical photographs, and provide examples of their use in emergency medicine education.