Canadian journal of surgery. Journal canadien de chirurgie
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Communication errors are considered one of the major causes of sentinel events. Our aim was to assess the process of patient handoff among junior surgical residents and to determine ways in which to improve the handoff process. ⋯ Our survey results indicate that the current patient handoff system contributes to patient harm. More efforts are needed to establish standardized forms of verbal and written handoff to ensure patient safety and continuity of care.
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Door openings disrupt the laminar air flow and increase the bacterial count in the operating room (OR). We aimed to define the incidence of door openings in the OR during primary total joint arthroplasty (TJA) surgeries and determine whether measures were needed and/or possible to reduce OR staff traffic. ⋯ There is a high incidence of door openings during TJA. Because we observed a range in the number of door openings per surgery, we believe it is possible to reduce this number during TJA.
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We conducted a cross-sectional study of primary total joint replacement (TJR) patients to determine predictors for prolonged length of stay (LOS) in hospital to identify patient characteristics that may inform resource allocation, accounting for patient complexity. ⋯ Not all patients undergoing TJR are equal. The goal should be individual patient-focused care rather than a predetermined LOS that is not achievable for all patients. Hospital resource planning must account for patient complexity when planning future bed management.
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Observational Study
The Canadian Armed Forces medical response to Typhoon Haiyan.
In the setting of international disaster response, an important challenge is determining when it is appropriate to withdraw deployed assets as the acute disaster response transitions to recovery and rebuilding. We describe our experience with realtime data collection during our medical response to Typhoon Haiyan as a means to guide military aid mission parameters. ⋯ The data collected during the mission to the Phillippines was compiled with performance metrics from the other Disaster Assistance Response Team components to help advise the Canadian government regarding mission duration. We recommended that data collection continue on all future missions and be modified to provide further information to larger disaster coordination teams, such as the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
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Medical support to deployed field forces is increasingly becoming a shared responsibility among allied nations. National military medical planners face several key challenges, including fiscal restraints, raised expectations of standards of care in the field and a shortage of appropriately trained specialists. Even so, medical services are now in high demand, and the availability of medical support may become the limiting factor that determines how and where combat units can deploy. ⋯ Nations must agree on the common standards that govern the care of the wounded. These standards will always need to take into account increased public expectations regarding the quality of care. The purpose of this article is to both review North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) policies that govern multinational medical missions and to discuss how recent scientific advances in prehospital battlefield care, damage control resuscitation and damage control surgery may inform how countries within NATO choose to organize and deploy their field forces in the future.