BMJ open
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To develop an NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS)-compatible, all-in-one scale for rapid and comprehensive prehospital stroke assessment including stroke recognition, severity grading and progression monitoring as well as prediction of large vessel occlusion (LVO). ⋯ The sNIHSS-EMS may overcome the sequential use of multiple emergency stroke scales by permitting parallel stroke recognition, severity grading and LVO prediction. Full NIHSS-item compatibility allows for evaluation of stroke progression starting at the prehospital phase.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Cadaveric study of movement in the unstable upper cervical spine during emergency management: tracheal intubation and cervical spine immobilisation-a study protocol for a prospective randomised crossover trial.
Emergency management of upper cervical spine injuries often requires cervical spine immobilisation and some critical patients also require airway management. The movement of cervical spine created by tracheal intubation and cervical spine immobilisation can potentially exacerbate cervical spinal cord injury. However, the evidence that previous studies have provided remains unclear, due to lack of a direct measurement technique for dural sac's space during dynamic processes. Our study will use myelography method and a wireless human motion tracker to characterise and compare the change of dural sac's space during tracheal intubations and cervical spine immobilisation in the presence of unstable upper cervical spine injury such as atlanto-occipital dislocation or type II odontoid fracture. ⋯ This study protocol has been approved by the Ethics Committee of the State Medical Association Rhineland-Palatinate, Mainz, Germany. The results will be published in relevant emergency journals and presented at relevant conferences.
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To investigate suicide and mortality risk in deployed military veterans versus non-deployed comparators who had gone through military conscription testing. ⋯ Deployed military veterans had similar suicide and mortality risk as non-deployed comparators after accounting for psychological, psychiatric and physical factors. Studies of mental health in deployed veterans need to adjust for more factors than age and sex for comparisons to be meaningful.
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Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is being increasingly reported among survivors of critical illness and injury. Previous work has demonstrated that PTSD reduces patient quality of life and ability to return to work, as well as increases healthcare costs. As such, identifying interventions aimed at preventing the development of critical illness-related PTSD could have an important public health impact. The objective of this systematic review is to collate the world's literature on early interventions aimed at preventing PTSD among survivors of critical illness. ⋯ This systematic review is registered in the PROSPERO international prospective register of systematic reviews (registration number CRD42017069672).
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A positive patient safety climate within teams has been associated with higher safety performance. The aim of this study was to describe and compare attitudes to patient safety among the various professionals in surgical teams in Swedish operating room (OR) departments. A further aim was to study nurse managers in the OR and medical directors' estimations of their staffs' attitudes to patient safety. ⋯ This study shows variations and some weak areas for patient safety climate in the studied ORs as reported by front-line staff and acknowledged by nurse managers and medical directors. This finding is a concern because a weak patient safety climate has been associated with poor patient outcomes. To raise awareness, managers need to support patient safety work in the OR.