Articles: emergency-department.
-
The objective of this study was to evaluate the utility of circumferential casting in the emergency department (ED), orthopedic follow-up visits, and radiographic follow-up in the management of children with wrist buckle fractures. ⋯ Orthopedic follow-up visits and radiographic follow-up may have minimal utility in the treatment of pediatric wrist buckle fractures. ED casting may pose more risk than benefit for these children. Splinting in the ED with primary care follow-up appears to be a reasonable management strategy for these fractures. A prospective study comparing ED splinting and casting for pediatric wrist buckle fractures is needed.
-
Our objective was to document and compare the views obtained at laryngoscopy during emergency department (ED) rapid sequence intubation (RSI) by anesthetists and emergency physicians of varying seniority and experience. ⋯ Anesthetic trainees obtain better laryngoscopic views than emergency medicine trainees, but these differences disappear with increasing emergency physician seniority, suggesting a training and experience effect. Emergency medicine trainees may benefit from additional focus on laryngoscopic visualization techniques early in their training period.
-
Unique ethical issues arise in the practice of emergency medicine, and common ethical problems are often more difficult to address in the emergency department than in other medical settings. This article is Part 2 of the Series "Ethics in the Trenches" and it presents and analyses 2 cases--each dealing with an ethical challenge that emergency physicians are likely to encounter. The first case deals with patient refusal of care. ⋯ The second case deals with patient involvement in criminal activities. Emergency physicians often encounter patients who have engaged in illegal activities. Although certain activities must be reported, physicians should be mindful of their responsibility to protect patient privacy and confidentiality.
-
Non-urgent visits comprise a significant proportion of visits to most emergency departments (EDs). Given the severe overcrowding issues faced by many EDs, the use of the Canadian Emergency Department Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS) to identify patients who could be managed elsewhere seems to be an obvious way to reduce the pressure on the ED and "solve" the overcrowding problem. ⋯ Non-urgent patients consume a small fraction of the ED stretchers and acute-care resources; therefore, strategies aimed at diverting non-urgent patients are unlikely to improve access for more urgent patients. Using the CTAS to identify patients for diversion away from the ED is measurably unsafe and will lead to inappropriate refusal of care for many patients requiring hospital treatment.