European journal of emergency medicine : official journal of the European Society for Emergency Medicine
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Case Reports
First case report of recreational use of 2,5-dimethoxy-4-chloroamphetamine confirmed by toxicological screening.
Routine toxicological screening is generally not undertaken in patients with recreational drug toxicity. We report here the benefits of toxicological screening in confirming drugs that have been ingested and potentially detecting drugs that have not previously been reported in the medical literature. ⋯ As 2,5-dimethoxy-4-chloroamphetamine is a substituted amphetamine, it is covered under the generic Misuse of Drugs act (1971) in the UK; although in the majority of the EU it remains uncontrolled, as there is no similar generic drug legislation. We believe that discrepancies in the legal status of recreational drugs in the EU limit the effectiveness of drug enforcement policies and that EU drug legislation should be harmonized to ensure consistency.
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The UK paediatric early warning score (PEWS) was developed for inpatients, looking at admission to the HDU and PICU and trying to produce a system which would recognize those children at risk of admission. Since the introduction of the '4-h wait', accident and emergency (A&E) departments have been under increasing strain to assess, treat and admit patients (if required) as quickly as possible. We designed this study with the view of identifying if the PEWS score could be used as a triage tool, to detect those patients who will need admission and therefore speed up the process of admitting children to the ward. ⋯ A PEWS score of >or=2 had a sensitivity of 37% and a specificity of 88%. PEWS is of limited value in predicting admission (in a triage setting) in a population of undifferentiated disease. However, a low PEWS score has a high specificity, that is, a patient scoring <2 is unlikely to need admission.
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The modified Early Warning Score (mEWS) is a triage instrument that promises to predict patient disposition and clinical outcome in emergency departments (EDs). We investigated whether mEWS can predict death, hospital admission, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and in-hospital deaths in a Turkish setting. ⋯ We conclude that scores on the mEWS predict ICU admission as well as ICU and in-hospital deaths.
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Objective of this study is to determine whether the formulation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) and their incorporation in a trauma pathway are associated with an improvement of trauma treatment process. ⋯ SOP incorporation in a trauma pathway shortens the total stay in the emergency room, resuscitation time and the time to achieve definitive diagnosis in multiple trauma patients. Thus, it can be concluded that organization and timing of trauma treatment steps help in improving the quality of trauma treatment process.
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No European airway management guidelines are currently specific to patients with cervical spinal cord injury (CSCI). The objectives of this study were to determine the clinical practice of European emergency physicians and anaesthesiologists regarding airway management in patients with CSCI. A questionnaire survey was completed by the participants of the fourth European Congress on Emergency Medicine regarding the preferred intubation techniques and the relevant skills, as well as airway management manoeuvres that, in the physician's opinion, caused the least and the greatest cervical spine movement. ⋯ However, most of the physicians who indicated the use of the fibreoptic bronchoscope as their preferred technique, were not skilled in its use. Furthermore, two-thirds of the respondents did not recognise that mask ventilation causes considerable cervical spine movement. Emergency physicians need better training in airway management to anticipate problems in patients with CSCI.