Can J Emerg Med
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Thunder Bay Regional Hospital (TBRH) developed a chest pain strategy (CPS) to support its emergency physicians in making the difficult clinical decisions required to properly evaluate and manage ED "chest pain" patients. This strategy was developed to ensure excellent patient care in a setting of diminished inpatient bed availability and increasing ED congestion. ⋯ Following the introduction of the CPS in 1997, TBRH realized significant ($500 000/yr) institutional resource savings through a 60% decrease in the admission rate of non-myocardial infarction, non-unstable angina chest pain patients, a 30% decrease in ED chest pain evaluation time, and improved ED availability of monitored stretchers. The CPS has allowed TBRH to simultaneously decrease costs and improve patient care.
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Africa's first conference on emergency medicine was held in October 1998 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Attended by 305 delegates from 13 countries, it was an important milestone in the development of Africa, emergency medicine's last frontier. ⋯ A session reviewing the activities of traditional healers was not only terrifyingly revealing, it also upset and offended a segment of the African audience. The conference ended positively with the creation of the Emergency Medicine Society of South Africa, a step toward recognition of emergency medicine as a specialty in Africa.