Can J Emerg Med
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Observational Study
Emergency department boarding: a descriptive analysis and measurement of impact on outcomes.
Delays in transfer of admitted patients boarded in the emergency department (ED) to an inpatient bed is a major driver of ED overcrowding. We sought to identify explanatory factors behind ED boarding as well as the impact of boarding on total inpatient length of stay (IP LOS) and inpatient mortality. ⋯ Within our cohort, older, sicker patients and those patients requiring more resource-intensive inpatient care had the longest ED wait times. These prolonged wait times are associated with significantly increased IP LOS.
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Mentorship is perceived to be an important component of residency education. However, evidence of the impact of mentorship on professional development in Emergency Medicine (EM) is lacking. ⋯ Among academic EM physicians with an interest in mentorship, mentorship during EM residency may have a greater association with location of practice than academic scholarship or subspecialty choice. Formal mentorship programs increase the likelihood of obtaining a mentor, but do not appear to improve reported mentorship experiences.
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It remains unclear whether ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients transported by ambulance over long distances are at risk for clinical adverse events. We sought to determine the frequency of clinical adverse events in a rural population of STEMI patients and to evaluate the impact of transport time on the occurrence of these events in the presence of basic life support paramedics. ⋯ In our study of rural STEMI patients, clinical adverse events were common (30.7%). However, transport time was not associated with the occurrence of adverse clinical events in these patients.