Can J Emerg Med
-
Bilateral facial nerve palsy is an exceedingly rare condition and presents a diagnostic challenge. Bilateral facial nerve palsy may result from cranial trauma, congenital abnormalities, inflammation, infiltration, or infection, but is rarely associated with syphilis. Here, we report a case of syphilis in which bilateral facial nerve palsy was the only initial symptom. ⋯ Penicillin G treatment was effective, and a 3-month follow-up examination demonstrated a complete recovery. We recommend that syphilis be considered when diagnosing sexually experienced young men presenting with bilateral facial nerve palsy, even in the absence of skin manifestations. Failure to recognize facial signs of syphilis could result in inappropriate management, affecting the patient's clinical outcome.
-
To quantify the effect of family medicine resident physicians on emergency department (ED) wait times and patients leaving without being seen or treated. ⋯ This is the first study to demonstrate that residents are associated with a reduction in ED wait times and patients leaving without being seen in a low-acuity, community hospital, compared to previous studies demonstrating no difference or increased wait times.
-
A recent mixed-methods study on the state of emergency medical services (EMS) research in Canada led to the generation of nineteen actionable recommendations. As part of the dissemination plan, a survey was distributed to EMS stakeholders to determine the anticipated impact and feasibility of implementing these recommendations in Canadian systems. ⋯ For most recommendations, participants scored the anticipated impact higher than the feasibility to implement. Ongoing or planned initiatives exist pertaining to all recommendations except one. All of the recommendations will require additional resources to implement.
-
Since their introduction over 40 years ago, paramedics have been trained to deliver select advanced life support interventions in the community with the goal of reducing morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease and trauma. The ensuing decades witnessed a great deal of interest in paramedic care, with an exponential growth in prehospital resuscitation research. As part of the CJEM series on emergency medical services (EMS), we review recent prehospital research in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and discuss how, in a novel departure from the origins of EMS, prehospital research is beginning to influence in-hospital care. We discuss emerging areas of study related to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) quality, therapeutic hypothermia, termination of resuscitation, and the use of end-tidal carbon dioxide measurement, as well as the subtle ripple effects that prehospital research is having on the broader understanding of the management of these critically ill patients.