Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
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With an increase in the population living with terminal illness, many patients are accessing EDs during the last days of their life. Yet EDs are often not well prepared to provide end-of-life (EOL) care. The aim of this review was to identify and synthesise studies that describe the views and experiences of emergency nurses in providing EOL care so as to understand the barriers and challenges that they face while caring for these patients and to identify factors that can support appropriate care delivery. ⋯ The review identified a need for: (1) Additional training for nurses. (2) The development of clear guidelines in the form of pathways and protocols. (3) Having a separate space for the dying. (4) Providing a supportive environment for staff dealing with high emotional burden and challenging workloads. In order to improve EOL care, organisations must work on the barriers that hinder care provision.
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High-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) could improve survival of drowning victims. The purpose of the study is to assess the impact of fatigue caused by water rescue on subsequent CPR quality and the influence of a bystander's participation on CPR quality in a lifeguard rescue. ⋯ Although CPR given by the lifeguard was not optimal, fatigue generated by a water rescue has no impact on the quality of subsequent CPR performed by a trained lifeguard for 10 min. Untrained bystanders assisting in CPR in a drowning event is unlikely to be helpful.
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First attempt intubation success is used by many prehospital services as a marker of quality and safety. An increasing complication rate is associated with repeated intubation attempts. The aim of this study was to identify changes to intubation technique following a failed intubation attempt. ⋯ Although a high overall intubation success was found, one in ten patients who were intubated had a failed first attempt. The majority of successful subsequent attempts were preceded by at least one change to intubating technique. Intubating clinicians need the ability to identify and correct issues leading to a failed first attempt.