Archives of emergency medicine
-
The aim of this study was to demonstrate that the under-used technique of femoral nerve block (F. N. B.) (Berry, 1977) has excellent analgesic action for femoral shaft fractures when performed by junior staff. ⋯ N. B. using a different agent (10 ml 0.5% bupivacaine) was performed and the same parameters were assessed. Both agents gave effective analgesia of varying duration at all levels of fracture site.
-
Midazolam meleate, a water soluble 1,4 benzodiazepine, was used intravenously in 20 patients suffering seizures, of whom 12 were in status epilepticus. In all cases, midazolam in a dose of 2.5-15 mg rapidly terminated the seizure. ⋯ Thirteen patients were taking some form of anticonvulsant medication but only three were in the therapeutic range. Midazolam is seen to be an effective agent in the emergency treatment of seizures.
-
The perceived urgency of 2000 consecutive patients attending the Accident and Emergency Department of the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, was assessed using a Linear Analogue Scale. Each patient was assessed by the receptionist, the receiving nurse and the treating doctor. The distribution of urgency rating produced for this patient group was shown to be comparable for each status of assessor, and to correlate with other outcome criteria such as admission and referral rates. ⋯ However, the complexity of many of these scales, together with the difficulty in usage of so many different scales, begs a reappraisal of the overall triage of patients attending the emergency department. The aim of this study was to look at the perceived urgency distribution of patients presenting to the emergency department. We wished to compare the relative assessment of urgency by various levels of treating staff and to compare those assessments with the referral and outcome of these patients to provide the basis for the development of a comparative Triage Scale.
-
A method of improving information about injuries sustained in road traffic accidents is described. It was achieved by combining data from the police with that from the accident and emergency department in such a way that patient confidentiality was preserved. This improved data base shows that present estimates of the number of injuries sustained on the road are too low and that assessments of their severity are probably inaccurate.