BMJ open
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Hurling is Ireland's national sport, played with a stick and ball; injury to the hand is common. A decrease in the proportion of head injury among emergency department (ED) presentations for hurling-related injury has coincided with voluntary use of helmet and face protection since 2003. A similar decrease in proportions has not occurred in hand injury. We aim to quantify hurling-related ED presentations and examine variables associated with injury. In particular, we were interested in comparing the occurrence of hand injury in those using head and face protection versus those who did not. ⋯ We report that hurling-related hand injury is common. We noted the low uptake of hand protection. We found that hand injury was significantly associated with the use of helmet and faceguard protection, independent of the other factors studied. Further studies are warranted to develop strategies to minimise the occurrence of this injury.
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Emergency departments are important safety nets for people who live in rural areas. Moreover, a serious problem in access to healthcare services has emerged in these regions. The challenges of providing access to quality rural emergency care include recruitment and retention issues, lack of advanced imagery technology, lack of specialist support and the heavy reliance on ambulance transport over great distances. The Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services published a new version of the Emergency Department Management Guide, a document designed to improve the emergency department management and to humanise emergency department care and services. In particular, the Guide recommends solutions to problems that plague rural emergency departments. Unfortunately, no studies have evaluated the implementation of the proposed recommendations. ⋯ This protocol has been approved by the CSSS Alphonse-Desjardins research ethics committee (Project MP-HDL-1213-011). The results will be published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and presented at one or more scientific conferences.
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To describe the patient demographics, outcomes and trends of admissions with acute severe asthma admitted to adult critical care units in England and Wales. ⋯ Acute asthma represents a modest burden of work for adult critical care units in England and Wales. Demographic patterns for admission to critical care unit mirror those of severe asthma in the general adult community. The number of critical care admissions with asthma are rising, although we were unable to discern whether this represents a true increase in the incidence of acute asthma or asthma severity.
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The use of social networking software has become ubiquitous in our society. The aim of this study was to explore the attitudes and experiences of healthcare professional students using Facebook at our school, to determine if there is a need for development of policy to assist students in this area. ⋯ Social networking software use, specifically Facebook use, was widespread among healthcare students at our school who responded to our survey. Our results highlight some of the challenges which can accompany the use of this new technology and offer potential insights to help understand the pedagogy and practices of Facebook use in this population, and to help students navigate the dilemmas associated with becoming 21st century healthcare professionals.
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The current salt intake is very high for children as well as adults in China. A reduction in salt intake is one of the most cost-effective measures to curb the rapidly growing disease burden attributed to blood pressure and cardiovascular disease in the Chinese population. A lower salt diet starting from childhood has the potential to prevent the development of such conditions. The School-EduSalt (School-based Education Programme to Reduce Salt) study aims to determine whether an education programme targeted at school children can lower salt intake in children and their families. ⋯ Protocol Registered on ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01821144.