Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Efficacy of the jet injector in local anaesthesia for small wound sutures: a randomised clinical trial compared with the needle infiltration technique.
Despite advances in the application of needle free devices in medical procedure, there is a paucity of knowledge on the efficacy of the jet injector for suturing skin wounds. ⋯ The jet injector is an effective device in reducing the pain of the anaesthetic procedure for small facial wounds. However, the remarkably lower pain should be evaluated in light of other parameters, including acceptance and preference of the newly introduced technique.
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Healthcare professionals working in emergency medicine are often exposed to noisy environments. We determined if there is any difference in cognitive task performance required for clinical decision-making of healthcare professionals in a quiet compared with noisy environment and to assess the subjective experience of participants with regard to performance in a noisy environment. ⋯ Performance of mental tasks is maintained during noise exposure but noise exposure is associated with significant degrees of self-reported distress.
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To determine the effect of a new automated external defibrillator (AED) system connected by General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) to an external call centre in assisting novices in a sudden cardiac arrest situation. ⋯ Although knowledge of the general population appears to be inadequate with regard to AED locations and recognition, live-assisted devices with GPS-location may improve emergency care.
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Unspecified chest pain is an important and potentially avoidable cause of emergency hospital admission. We aimed to examine inter-hospital variation in admission rates with unspecified chest pain and identify population characteristics, services and technologies that might explain this variation. ⋯ Hospitals with higher admission rates for unspecified chest pain have greater bed provision, more RACPC attendances and serve populations with a higher percentage of households in poverty. These findings may be explained by services responding to demand in populations with greater need. We found no evidence that chest pain management influenced admission rates.