Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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To investigate if paper-based documentation in the authors' emergency medical service (EMS) satisfies scientific requirements. ⋯ Documentation of vital parameters is carried out incompletely, and documentation of respiratory rate is particularly poor, making calculation of accepted emergency scores infeasible for a significant fraction of a given test population. The suitability of paper-based documentation is therefore limited. Electronic documentation that includes real-time plausibility checks might improve data quality. Further research is warranted.
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The burden of harm associated with alcohol misuse is disproportionately high in rural areas of Australia, and a considerable proportion of this burden is borne by the health system. The health impact of alcohol in rural areas has been measured in terms of the contribution of alcohol to hospital inpatient admissions and mortality rates, despite many more alcohol-related cases presenting to emergency departments (EDs). This study aims to estimate the proportion of presentations to EDs in rural Australia that are alcohol-related and to identify the associated patient and presentation characteristics. ⋯ The prevalence of alcohol-related ED presentations observed was at the lower end of the documented range, probably due to methodological differences and limitations, as well as geographic variation. Despite this, alcohol-related presentations were associated with a substantial impact on the ED. Policies and programs to reduce the impact of alcohol on rural emergency departments are needed.