Can J Emerg Med
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Undergraduate and postgraduate emergency medicine (EM) education has developed rapidly over the last 20 years. Our objective was to establish a national educational inventory, cataloguing the human and financial resources provided to EM programs by Canadian faculties of medicine. ⋯ Despite major teaching and clinical responsibilities within the faculties of medicine, Canadian EM programs are poorly supported. Further investment of human and financial and human resources is required.
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Tetanus is a life threatening infection that is rarely encountered in clinical practice. Knowledge of the condition is necessary to ensure optimal management. A 30-year-old male presented with classic signs and symptoms of the disease, including trismus, risus sardonicus, paroxysmal muscle spasms and autonomic instability. The pathophysiology and modern management of this condition are reviewed.
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National survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests are less than 5%, and substantial resources are associated with transporting cardiac arrest victims to hospital for emergency department (ED) resuscitation. The low overall survival rate and the identification of predictors of unsuccessful resuscitation have opened debate on the "futility" of transporting such patients to the ED. This study compares the costs of prehospital pronouncement of death to the costs of transporting patients to a hospital ED for physician pronouncement. ⋯ Paramedic pronouncement of death in the field is less costly than transporting patients to hospital for physician pronouncement. Pronouncement in the field requires more paramedic time but less physician time.