Emergency medicine (Fremantle, W.A.)
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Emerg Med (Fremantle) · Sep 2001
ReviewEthical relationships in paediatric emergency medicine: moving beyond the dyad.
Most areas of health-services research concentrate on a dyadic relationship between doctor and patient. In paediatric emergency medicine it may be necessary to focus on a more complicated relationship because the parents of the child play an important role in the delivery of medical services. ⋯ Such models allow the inclusion of the parents and possibly other family members, medical providers and community members. If the paediatric setting is considered in such a framework, it may be possible to deliver a more socially beneficial medical service.
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Emerg Med (Fremantle) · Sep 2001
Comparative StudyThe use of emergency contraception in Australasian emergency departments.
To review the prescribing of emergency contraception by emergency departments in Australasia and compare it with other providers. ⋯ Emergency departments are accessed by patients requesting contraception following unprotected intercourse or contraceptive failure. The prescribing of emergency contraception in Australasian emergency departments is comparable with other providers but substantial improvements could be made. Suggestions to assist this improvement include written clinical guidelines and patient information and purpose-made medication packs.
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Emerg Med (Fremantle) · Sep 2001
Delayed ultrasound in patients with abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding during the first trimester of pregnancy.
To determine if patients with abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding during the first trimester of pregnancy who have a low clinical likelihood of ectopic pregnancy are put at risk of adverse events by delaying ultrasonography 12-18 h after emergency department presentation. ⋯ Preliminary results suggest that pregnant patients with abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding in the first trimester who meet specific low-risk clinical criteria could potentially have ultrasound delayed 12-18 h without risk of adverse event. Further prospective studies are warranted to confirm the safety of this strategy.
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Emerg Med (Fremantle) · Sep 2001
Comparative StudyEmergency department triage of indigenous and non-indigenous patients in tropical Australia.
To examine the relationship between ethnicity and triage at a tertiary hospital emergency department. ⋯ Indigenous patients are more likely to present with illness rather than injury and are more likely to require admission than non-indigenous patients. Indigenous patients are triaged in accordance with Australasian triage guidelines. Many non-indigenous patients should be triaged to lower urgency categories to allow resource allocation towards higher acuity indigenous and non-indigenous patients.