Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
COVID-19 aerosol box as protection from droplet and aerosol contaminations in healthcare workers performing airway intubation: a randomised cross-over simulation study.
Concerns over high transmission risk of SARS-CoV-2 have led to innovation and usage of an aerosol box to protect healthcare workers during airway intubation in patients with COVID-19. Its efficacy as a barrier protection in addition to the use of a standard personal protective equipment (PPE) is not fully known. We performed a simulated study to investigate the relationship between aerosol box usage during intubation and contaminations on healthcare workers pre-doffing and post-doffing of PPE. ⋯ An aerosol box may significantly reduce exposure to contaminations but with increased intubation time and reduced operator's mobility and visibility. Furthermore, the difference in degree of contamination between using and not using an aerosol box could be offset by proper doffing of PPE.
-
Multicenter Study Observational Study
Post-exertion oxygen saturation as a prognostic factor for adverse outcome in patients attending the emergency department with suspected COVID-19: a substudy of the PRIEST observational cohort study.
Measurement of post-exertion oxygen saturation has been proposed to assess illness severity in suspected COVID-19 infection. We aimed to determine the accuracy of post-exertional oxygen saturation for predicting adverse outcome in suspected COVID-19. ⋯ Post-exertion oxygen saturation provides modest prognostic information in the assessment of selected patients attending the emergency department with suspected COVID-19.
-
Multicenter Study
Paediatric ED utilisation in the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Past epidemics, including influenza, have resulted in increased paediatric patient volume in EDs. During the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was unclear how ED volume would be impacted in paediatric hospitals. The objective of this study was to examine differences in the international experience of paediatric ED utilisation and disposition at five different children's hospitals. ⋯ Paediatric EDs in these five cities demonstrated differential decreases of ED volume by acuity and disposition during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
-
We report the utilisation and impact of a novel triage-based electronic screening tool (eST) combined with clinical assessment to recognise sepsis in paediatric ED. ⋯ Utilisation of a novel triage-based eST allowed sepsis screening in over 99% of eligible patients. The screening tool showed good accuracy to recognise sepsis at triage in the ED, which was augmented further by combining it with clinician assessment. The screening tool requires further refinement through multicentre evaluation to avoid missing sepsis cases.