Scand J Trauma Resus
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Scand J Trauma Resus · Apr 2019
Multicenter StudyRepeated ambulance use is associated with chronic diseases - a population-based historic cohort study of patients' symptoms and diagnoses.
There is a growing demand for emergency medical services (EMS) and patients are repeatedly transported by ambulance services. For many patients, especially those with chronic disease, there may be better ways of delivering care. We examined the symptom at time of emergency call and the hospital diagnosis for those ambulance users who repeatedly received an ambulance. ⋯ Repeated use of ambulance services was common and associated with chronic health problems such as chronic respiratory diseases, epilepsy, mental disorders with alcohol abuse and comorbidity. Alternative methods of caring for many of these patients should be considered.
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Scand J Trauma Resus · Apr 2019
Multicenter StudyKey performance indicators for pre hospital emergency Anaesthesia - a suggested approach for implementation.
Pre-hospital Emergency Anaesthesia (PHEA) is regarded as one of the highest risk interventions that pre-hospital providers perform. AAGBI guidance from 2017 suggests the use of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to audit PHEA quality. The aim of this study was to develop KPIs for use in our service and evaluate their impact. ⋯ The KPI process has demonstrated areas of good quality practice and led to improvements in equipment, processes and documentation and therefore patient care. We offer suggestions to other organisations considering implementing KPIs for PHEA.
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Scand J Trauma Resus · Apr 2019
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyAvailability of suPAR in emergency departments may improve risk stratification: a secondary analysis of the TRIAGE III trial.
Soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) is a prognostic and nonspecific biomarker associated with short-term mortality in emergency department (ED) patients. Therefore, the blood level of suPAR might be usable for identification of patients at high- and low risk, shortly after arrival at the ED. Here, we investigate the value of adding suPAR to triage and how this may impact on risk stratification regarding mortality. ⋯ Addition of suPAR to triage potentially improves prediction of short-term mortality. Measurement of suPAR in relation to the triage process may allow a more accurate identification of ED patients at risk.
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Scand J Trauma Resus · Apr 2019
Multicenter StudyThe Danish helicopter emergency medical service database: high quality data with great potential.
The Danish Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) is part of the Danish pre-hospital response offering advanced patient care on scene and during rapid transport to definitive care. Monitoring HEMS performance and the quality of critical care has high national as well as international priority underlining the need for research in this field. The data quality of the Danish HEMS database is unknown. Furthermore, a set of quality indicators (QI) developed by an international collaboration group (EQUIPE) potentially for use in physician-staffed EMS, has recently been presented. The aim of the current study was to present the design and data quality of the Danish helicopter database, and to evaluate the coverage of available variables in the database according to the QIs proposed. ⋯ Helicopter Emergency Medical Services in Denmark are a new and sparsely investigated health care provider. The database contains nearly all missions dispatched by the five regional Emergency Medical Dispatch Centres. Generally, the data quality is considered high with great potential for future research. Potential quality indicators as proposed by the EQUIPE-collaboration group could inspire the configuration and design of the next version of Hemsfile creating an even more solid basis for research and quality improvement.
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Scand J Trauma Resus · Mar 2019
Multicenter Study Observational StudyPneumonia in severely injured patients with thoracic trauma: results of a retrospective observational multi-centre study.
While the incidence and aspects of pneumonia in ICU patients has been extensively discussed in the literature, studies on the occurrence of pneumonia in severely injured patients are rare. The aim of the present study is to elucidate factors associated with the occurrence of pneumonia in severely injured patients with thoracic trauma. ⋯ Level II - Retrospective medical record review.