Articles: emergency-department.
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To discuss ethical and legal aspects of physicianś attitudes in emergency departments under the light of Braziĺs codes and laws. ⋯ The commentaries presented in the article try to explain to the pediatrician how to identify ethical and legal conflicts in the emergency department and to prepare him (her) to assume attitudes based on codes and legal statements, as well as to respect the patient's rights.
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Almost all North American cities have first responder programs. To date there is no published documentation of the roles first responders play, nor of the frequency and type of interventions they perform. Many urban stakeholders question the utility and safety of routinely dispatching large vehicles emergently to calls that may not require their services. Real world data on first responder interventions will help emergency medical services (EMS) directors and planners determine manpower requirements, assess training needs, and optimize dispatch protocols to reduce the rate of inappropriate "code 3" (lights and siren) responses. ⋯ First responders perform critical interventions during a minority of code 3 calls, even when "critical" is defined generously. Many "lights and siren" dispatches are unnecessary. Future research should attempt to identify dispatch criteria that more accurately predict the need for first responder intervention. First responder training and continuous quality improvement (CQI) should focus on interventions that are performed with some regularity, particularly oxygen administration.