Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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A major barrier to successful integration of acute care into health systems is the lack of consensus on the essential components of emergency care within resource-limited environments. The 2013 African Federation of Emergency Medicine Consensus Conference was convened to address the growing need for practical solutions to further implementation of emergency care in sub-Saharan Africa. ⋯ Levels of emergency care were assigned based on the expected capacity of the facility to perform signal functions, and the necessary human, equipment and infrastructure resources identified. These consensus-based recommendations provide the foundation for objective facility capacity assessment in developing emergency health systems that can bolster strategic planning as well as facilitate monitoring and evaluation of service delivery.
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The aim of this systematic literature review is to investigate (A) currently used instruments for assessing psychological distress, (B) the prevalence of psychological distress in medical emergency department (ED) patients with acute somatic conditions and (C) empirical evidence on how predictors are associated with psychological distress. ⋯ There is strong evidence that psychological distress is an important and prevalent cofactor in medically ill patients presenting to the ED with harmful associations with (subjective) health outcomes. To prove causality, future research should investigate whether screening and lowering psychological distress with specific interventions would result in better patient outcomes.
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A short cut review was carried to examine the evidence for the use of ultrasound in diagnosing pneumonia in paediatric patients. A literature search was performed that found one systematic review and meta-analysis based on eight papers and a further five relevant papers. 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 lung ultrasound appears to have an acceptable sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of pneumonia in children when performed by an experienced sonographer.