Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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A short-cut review was carried out to establish whether flushing an intraosseous needle with local anaesthetic or saline is more effective at reducing the pain injecting drugs or fluid via this route. Two studies were relevant to the question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of these papers are shown in table 1. The clinical bottom line is that injecting lidocaine both before and after flushing an intraosseous needle is an effective method of reducing the pain of fluid infusion via this route.
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The Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) promotes a bundle approach to the care of septic patients to improve outcome. Some have questioned the capability of delivering the bundle in emergency departments (EDs). The authors report the epidemiology and 6 h bundle compliance of patients with severe sepsis/septic shock presenting to Scottish EDs. ⋯ Sepsis presentations are of variable frequency but have typical epidemiology and clinical outcomes. SSC bundle resuscitation uptake is poor in Scottish EDs.
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To assess the ability of rural Australian nurse teams to manage deteriorating patients. ⋯ Despite a satisfactory knowledge base, the application of knowledge was low with notable performance deficits in these demanding and stressful situations. The identification and management of patient deterioration needs to be taught in professional development programmes incorporating high fidelity simulation techniques. The Team Emergency assessment tool proved to be a valid measure of team performance in patient deterioration scenarios.
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To review the National Integrated Strategic Plan for Pandemic Influenza for 2009-2013 and assess whether it is in congruence with the nation's emergency preparedness status. ⋯ The authors concluded that the Plan is incongruent with Ghana's public health emergency preparedness. The evaluation is important for Ghana and the subregion.