American journal of disaster medicine
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The objective of this study was to evaluate tourniquet use in the Hartford prehospital setting during a 34-month period after the Hartford Consensus was published, which encouraged increasing tourniquet use in light of military research. ⋯ Tourniquets are being used inappropriately in the Hartford prehospital setting. Misuse is associated with both EMTs and first responders, highlighting the need for better training and more consistent protocols.
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Determining pediatric severity of illness in referring centers may be useful for establishing appropriate patient disposition and interfacility transport. For this retrospective review, the authors evaluated the Canadian Paediatric Triage and Acuity Scale (PaedCTAS) tool in regards to individual patient disposition and outcomes. ⋯ A PaedCTAS assessment of 1 may be a reasonable predictor for PICU admissions and longer hospitalizations when calculated in referral centers at time of pediatric transport consultation. PaedCTAS assessments may provide useful adjuvant information for specialized pediatric transport programs.
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Disaster triage training for emergency medical service (EMS) providers is not standardized. Simulation training is costly and time-consuming. In contrast, educational video games enable low-cost and more time-efficient standardized training. We hypothesized that players of the video game "60 Seconds to Survival" (60S) would have greater improvements in disaster triage accuracy compared to control subjects who did not play 60S. ⋯ The intervention demonstrated a significant improvement in accuracy from baseline to time 2 while the control did not. However, there was no significant difference in the improvement between the intervention and control groups. These results may be due to small sample size. Future directions include assessment of the game's effect on triage accuracy with a larger, multisite site cohort and iterative development to improve 60S.
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Numerous disasters confirm the need for critical event training in healthcare professions. However, no single discipline works in isolation and interprofessional learning is recognized as a necessary component. An interprofessional faculty group designed a learning curriculum crossing professional schools. ⋯ Students participated were 402. Precourse and postcourse evaluations showed improvement in team participation values, critical event knowledge, and 94 percent of participants reported learning useful skills. Qualitative responses evidenced positive response; most frequent recurring comments concerned value of interprofessional experiences in team communication and desire to incorporate this kind of education earlier in their curriculum. Students demonstrated improvement in both knowledge and attitudes in a critical event response course that includes interprofessional instruction and collaboration. Further study is required to demonstrate sustained improvement as well as benefit to clinical outcomes.