European journal of emergency medicine : official journal of the European Society for Emergency Medicine
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Observational Study
Management of body stuffers presenting to the emergency department.
The aim of this study was to establish a management protocol for body stuffers presenting to the emergency department. ⋯ Patients developed new or worsening features of drug toxicity within 6 h of presentation. Toxidromes observed are often not drug/class specific, and treatment including gut decontamination and radiography do not aid in expediting discharge. We propose an observation period of 6 h from the time of admission as the time required if the patient is asymptomatic or there is resolution of presenting signs and symptoms.
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Intravenous access in prehospital emergency care allows for early administration of medication and extended measures such as anaesthesia. Cannulation may, however, be difficult, and failure and resulting delay in treatment and transport may have negative effects on the patient. Therefore, our study aims to perform a concise assessment of the difficulties of prehospital venous cannulation. ⋯ Our study offers a simple assessment to identify cases of difficult intravenous access in prehospital emergency care. Of the numerous factors subjectively perceived as possibly exerting influences on cannulation, only the universal - not exclusive to emergency care - factors of lighting, vein visibility and palpability proved to be valid predictors of cannulation failure and exceedance of a 2 min threshold.
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Letter Randomized Controlled Trial
Which airways management technique is optimal for trauma patient ventilation?
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To evaluate whether prioritization of patients with acute heart failure (AHF) in the Andorran Triage Model/Spanish Triage System (MAT/SET) and the Manchester Triage System (MTS) also allows the identification of different profiles of outcome and prognosis and determine whether either system has a better predictive capacity of outcomes. ⋯ The prediction of the outcome of patients with AHF determined with the MAT/SET or MTS showed scarce differences between the two systems, and their discriminative capacity does not seem to be clinically relevant.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Interactive videoconferencing versus audio telephone calls for dispatcher-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation using the ALERT algorithm: a randomized trial.
The ALERT algorithm, a telephone cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) protocol, has been shown to help bystanders initiate CPR. Mobile phone communications may play a role in emergency calls and improve dispatchers' understanding of the rescuer's situation. However, there is currently no validated protocol for videoconference-assisted CPR (v-CPR). We initiated this study to validate an original protocol of v-CPR and to evaluate the potential benefit in comparison with classical telephone-CPR (t-CPR). ⋯ The v-CPR protocol allows bystanders to reach compression rates and depths close to guidelines and to reduce 'hands-off' events during CPR.