Can J Emerg Med
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It is traditionally taught that the location to place an ultrasound probe to detect a pneumothorax with point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is the anterior chest, given the theory that air will collect at the least dependent area in the supine patient. There is a wide variety of scanning protocols with varying accuracy and completeness. We sought to assess the optimal area to scan for diagnosing pneumothorax by mapping the location of traumatic pneumothorax on computed tomography (CT). ⋯ This study suggests any POCUS scanning protocol for traumatic pneumothorax should include an area from the inferior border of the clavicle at the parasternal border down to the liver or cardiac lung points and then the mid clavicular line down to the liver or cardiac lung points.
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1) To characterize mild, moderate, and severe fear of falling in older emergency department (ED) patients for minor injuries, and 2) to assess whether fear of falling could predict falls and returns to the ED within 6 months of the initial ED visit. ⋯ Although a high fear of falling is associated with increased risk of falling within 6 months of a minor injury in older patients, fear of falling considered alone was not shown to be a strong predictor of return to the ED and future falls.
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Our objective was to examine the performance characteristics of a bladder stimulation technique for urine collection among infants presenting to the emergency department (ED). ⋯ The success rate of this bladder stimulation technique was lower than previously reported. The contamination rate was high, however most contaminated specimens were easily identified and had no clinical impact.
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Transporting patients with communicable diseases is common in critical care transport operations. At Ornge, Ontario's critical care transport provider, 13.7% of patients required contact, droplet, or airborne precautions during transport in 2019-2020. ⋯ Success in safety requires a robust system of hazard identification and adherence to generally accepted methods of hazard control. This commentary will discuss some of the administrative and engineering controls, as well as the personal protective equipment (PPE) strategies deployed at Ornge.