European journal of emergency medicine : official journal of the European Society for Emergency Medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Influence of case-based e-learning on students' performance in point-of-care ultrasound courses: a randomized trial.
Theoretical knowledge, visual perception, and sensorimotor skills are key elements in ultrasound education. Classroom-based presentations are used routinely to teach theoretical knowledge, whereas visual perception and sensorimotor skills typically require hands-on training (HT). We aimed to compare the effect of classroom-based lectures versus a case-based e-learning (based on clinical cases only) on the hands-on performance of trainees during an emergency ultrasound course. ⋯ e-learning exclusively based on clinical cases is an effective method of education in preparation for HT sessions and can reduce attendance time in ultrasound courses.
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Observational Study
Education, exposure and experience of prehospital teams as quality indicators in regional trauma systems.
Indicators to measure the quality of trauma care may be instrumental in benchmarking and improving trauma systems. This retrospective, observational study investigated whether data on three indicators for competencies of Dutch trauma teams (i.e. education, exposure, experience; agreed upon during a prior Delphi procedure) can be retrieved from existing registrations. The validity and distinctive power of these indicators were explored by analysing available data in four regions. ⋯ The quality indicators of education, exposure and experience of prehospital physicians and nurses can be measured reliably, have a high level of usability and have distinctive power.
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Access to patients can be restricted in emergency situations. A variety of techniques and devices are available for use in patients who require oxygenation in a restricted-access situation. ⋯ Supraglottic airway devices appear to offer advantages in restricted-access situations.
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Reverse triage is a way to rapidly create inpatient surge capacity by identifying hospitalized patients who do not require major medical assistance for at least 96 h and who only have a small risk for serious complications resulting from early discharge. Electronic searches were conducted in the MEDLINE, TRIP, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, EMBASE, Web of Science, and SCOPUS databases to identify relevant publications published from 2004 to 2014. The reference lists of all relevant articles were screened for additional relevant studies that might have been missed in the primary searches. ⋯ When time to a medical referral or bed is less than 4-6 h, 100 additional lives per annum are predicted to be potentially saved. The results of our systematic review identified only a small number of publications addressing reverse triage, indicating that reverse triage and surge capacity are relatively new subjects of research within the medical field. Not all research questions could be fully answered.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The neonatal resuscitation algorithm organized cart is more efficient than the airway-breathing-circulation organized drawer: a crossover randomized control trial.
Although there is consensus on the resuscitation of newborns, there is no standardization on how resuscitation equipment should be organized. This might lead to difficulty and inefficiency in retrieval of the right equipment during resuscitation. The neonatal resuscitation carts organized in accordance with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) algorithm might result in more efficient retrieval of resuscitation equipment. ⋯ The NRP Cart was superior to the generic drawer in terms of the speed of equipment retrieval and user acceptability.