Emergencias
-
Emergency services' main purpose is to save lives, but that worthy mission cannot always be accomplished. When caring for patients toward the end of life, we have an ethical obligation to talk with them and their relatives to obtain consensus on treatment and possibly limit it or adjust management in accordance with the patient's condition. Emergency department protocols are necessary for optimizing care to provide the greatest possible comfort and control of symptoms in patients at the end of life to prevent unnecessary suffering and preserve dignity. This article sets out recommendations - including the principles and ethical standards that underlie them - so that emergency services can develop end-of-life care protocols for use in their own settings.
-
To describe clinical, outcome, and risk factors in a cohort of patients treated with noninvasive ventilation (NIV) in a hospital emergency department (ED) or by out-of-hospital emergency medical services (OHEMSs). ⋯ Patients treated in the hospital ED and OHEMS setting have similar baseline characteristics, although acute episodes were more serious in the OHEMS group. No significant differences were found related to in-hospital mortality. Higher mortality was associated with dependence, a SAPS II score greater than 52, and discontinuance of NIV. Readmission was associated with dependence and NIV treatment in the hospital ED setting.
-
Observational Study
Predictors of revisits within 1 year by patients after acute COVID-19: the HUBCOVID365 cohort study.
To analyze the frequencies of 3 types of hospital revisits by patients after treatment for COVID-19 in the emergency department. ⋯ Fewer than half the total number of emergency department revisits after initial care for COVID-19 were related to the novel coronavirus infection. Revisits occurred more often in the first 30 days after discharge. Later COVID-19-related revisits were uncommon, but given the large number of patients with this infection, such visits can be expected.