Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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The demand for urgent care is increasing, and the pressure on emergency departments is of significant concern. General practitioner (GP)-led urgent care centres are a new model of care developed to divert patients to more appropriate primary care environments. This study explores why patients with minor illness choose to attend an urban urgent care centre for their healthcare needs. ⋯ We found that the GP-led urgent care centre was similar to walk in centres in attracting healthy young adults, who were mostly registered with a GP and used services because of convenience and ease of access rather than satisfaction levels with their GP. This group may benefit from being seen as part of routine general practice care to provide opportunities for education and promotion of self-management.
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The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident (FDNPPA) was the world's second largest nuclear power plant accident. At the time that it occurred, internet usage prevalence in Japan was as high as 80%. ⋯ Internet usage was significantly and positively associated with greater health knowledge and more preventive behaviours. The internet is a useful method of distributing information to the general public in emergency situations such as a nuclear disaster.
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Multicenter Study
Accuracy of a sequential approach to identify young febrile infants at low risk for invasive bacterial infection.
Much effort has been put in the past years to create and assess accurate tools for the management of febrile infants. However, no optimal strategy has been so far identified. A sequential approach evaluating, first, the appearance of the infant, second, the age and result of the urinanalysis and, finally, the results of the blood biomarkers, including procalcitonin, may better identify low risk febrile infants suitable for outpatient management. ⋯ A sequential approach to young febrile infants based on clinical and laboratory parameters, including procalcitonin, identifies better patients more suitable for outpatient management.
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A short cut review was carried out to establish whether d-dimer concentrations are increased during normal menstruation-. - studies were directly 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 tabulated. The clinical bottom line is that there is little evidence on the question, but what there is suggests that d-dimer concentrations are not raised during normal menstruation.
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Identifying 'true stroke' from an emergency medical services (EMS) call is challenging, with over 50% of strokes being misclassified. In a previous study, we examined the relationship between callers' descriptions of stroke symptoms to the emergency medical dispatcher and the subsequent classification and prioritisation of EMS response. The aim of this subsequent study was to explore further the use of keywords by callers when making emergency calls, comparing stroke and non-stroke calls. ⋯ People who contact the EMS about non-stroke conditions rarely say stroke, limb weakness, speech problems or facial weakness. These words are more frequently used when people contact the EMS about stroke, although many calls relating to stroke patients do not mention any of these keywords.