Prehospital emergency care : official journal of the National Association of EMS Physicians and the National Association of State EMS Directors
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This study has two aims: 1) to describe linkage rates between ambulance data and external datasets for "episodes of care" and "patient only" linkages in New South Wales (NSW), Australia; and 2) to detect and report any systematic issues with linkage that relate to patients, and operational or clinical variables that may introduce bias in subsequent studies if not adequately addressed. During 2010-11, the Centre for Health Record Linkage (CHeReL) in NSW, linked the records for patients attended by NSW Ambulance paramedics for the period July 2006 to June 2009, with four external datasets: Emergency Department Data Collection; Admitted Patient Data Collection; NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages death registration data; and the Australian Bureau of Statistics mortality data. This study reports linkage rates in terms of those "expected" to link and those who were "not expected" to link with external databases within 24 hours of paramedic attendance. ⋯ For NSW Ambulance episodes of care that were expected to link to an external dataset but did not, nonlinkage to hospital admission records tended to decrease with age. For all other variables, issues relating to rates of linkage and nonlinkage were more indiscriminate. This quantification of the limitations of this large linked dataset will underpin the interpretation and results of ensuing studies that will inform future clinical and operational policies and practices at NSW Ambulance.
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Abstract Objective: Air medical transport (AMT) teams play an essential role in the care of the critically ill and injured. Their work, however, is not without risk. Since the inception of the industry numerous AMT accidents have been reported. ⋯ Conclusion: Planning for AMT post-accident response was identified to be lacking in scope and quality. More focused efforts are needed to assist and support the survivors as they regain both their personal and professional lives following the accident. This planning should include all stakeholders in safe transport; the individual crewmember, air medical transport companies, and the industry at large.
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Comparative Study Observational Study
EMS Intubation Improves with King Vision Video Laryngoscopy.
Intubation success by paramedics has historically been variable. The lack of first-pass success (FPS) has been associated with increased adverse events. Various video laryngoscope (VL) devices have been investigated to improve success among paramedics. Conflicting research exists on VL vs. direct laryngoscopy (DL) by paramedics and on the effects of the specific King Vision device on FPS and overall success (OS) in an emergency medical services (EMS) system with low intubation frequency and historically low success rates. ⋯ In this suburban EMS system with historically low intubation success rates and low frequency of intubation, paramedics were able to improve all measures of intubation success using the King Vision video laryngoscope and an ongoing training program when compared with direct laryngoscopy.
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Abstract Background. Fatigue is likely to be a significant issue for air medical transport clinicians due to the challenging nature of their work, but there is little published evidence for this. Objective. ⋯ These results suggest that clinicians undertaking interhospital transports of even moderate duration experience high levels of fatigue on a relatively frequent basis. In the unique and challenging environment of air medical transport, prior fatigue, long or difficult missions, and the disadvantageous effect of night work on normal circadian rhythms are a combination where there are minimal safety margins for clinicians' performance capacity. Fatigue prevention or fatigue resistance measures could positively affect air medical clinicians in this context.