Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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Multicenter Study
Palliative care for patients who died in emergency departments: analysis of a multicentre cross-sectional survey.
A growing number of patients die each year in hospital emergency departments (EDs). Decisions to withhold or to withdraw life-support therapies occur in 80% of patients as described in a multicentre cross-sectional survey including 2420 patients. Palliative care has not been explored in patients dying in this setting. The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of palliative care and to describe this population. ⋯ Palliative care is administered to about half of the patients who die in EDs. This is insufficient as the majority of the patients who died in EDs actually died after a decision to withhold or withdraw life-support therapies. End-of-life management must be improved in EDs.
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Multicenter Study
Environmental triggers of hospital admissions for school-age children with asthma in two British cities.
Research has reported seasonal peaks in asthma in school age asthmatic children. The study aimed to assess if hospital admissions could be predicted from the possible environmental triggers using data from two British cities: Aberdeen and Doncaster. However, there were no consistent patterns across the two cities with no clear evidence that hospital admissions could be predicted from environmental data.