J Emerg Med
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The survival of in-hospital cardiac arrest (8-25%) has not changed substantially in the past. Until now, most hospitals in Germany had no standardized protocols available for a course of action in case of emergency, and there are no continuous registry data for in-hospital cardiac arrest and survival. ⋯ The first-responder AED program successfully gave training lessons to the hospital staff. The training included how to initiate the cardiac arrest call, how to use the AED, and how to start immediate resuscitation. As a result, a higher survival rate after in-hospital cardiac arrest can be accomplished.
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Although many complications of intravenous drug abuse are well described, "cotton fever" has had little mention in recent medical literature. Cotton fever is street terminology for the post-injection fever experienced by many drug users after "shooting up" with heroin reclaimed from a previously used cotton filter. ⋯ Although it is usually a benign situation, cotton fever can have a dramatic clinical and hematologic course. We present a typical case of cotton fever followed by a description of the pathophysiology and clinical presentation of this entity.
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Pneumocephalus is rare, mostly arising as a complication of surgery, trauma, infection, or neoplasm. ⋯ Although usually asymptomatic, pneumocephalus can lead to tension pneumocephalus, a potentially fatal condition, or septic meningitis, if it is the result of infection from gas-producing bacteria.
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There is currently limited literature regarding the use of hemodialysis after acute pediatric and adolescent poisoning. ⋯ All salicylate-poisoned patients who underwent HD demonstrated clinical findings indicative of toxicity even in the absence of elevated levels advocated by some as indication for HD. HD and other ECR are rarely used in the management of pediatric and adolescent poisoning.
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Trauma airway management is commonly performed by either anesthesiologists or Emergency Physicians (EPs). ⋯ EPs can safely manage the airways of trauma patients with rates of complication and failure comparable with those of anesthesiologists.