Articles: emergency-department.
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Addictive behaviors · Jan 2014
Characteristics and treatment interests among individuals with substance use disorders and a history of past six-month violence: findings from an emergency department study.
The study examined clinical characteristics and treatment interests of individuals identified to have substance use disorders (SUDs) in an urban emergency department (ED) who reported past six-month history of violence or victimization. Specifically, participants were 1441 ED patients enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of interventions designed to link those with SUDs to treatment. To examine factors related to violence type, four groups based on participants' reports of violence toward others were created: no violence (46.8%), partner violence only (17.3%), non-partner violence only (20.2%), and both partner and non-partner violence (15.7%). ⋯ For violence toward others, demographic variables, alcohol and cocaine disorders, and rating treatment for psychological problems were higher for violence groups, with some differences depending on the type of violence. For victimization, demographic variables, having an alcohol disorder, and rating treatment for family/social problems were higher for violence groups, also with some differences depending on the type of violence. Findings from the present study could be useful for designing effective brief interventions and services for ED settings.
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Observational Study
Evolved design makes ThoraQuik safe and user friendly in the management of pneumothorax and pleural effusion.
We have previously described the utility of ThoraQuik, a device designed to be fit for purpose for aspirations of pneumothorax and pleural effusions. We evaluated the safety, efficacy and operator handling of the evolved prototype, ThoraQuik II, which has a lesser profile and a spring loaded Veres needle for added safety. ⋯ Our study found the use of ThoraQuik II to be safe and easy in draining pneumothorax and pleural effusions. The changes to ThoraQuik II made it more user friendly.
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Emergency (Tehran, Iran) · Jan 2014
Outcome of Patients Underwent Emergency Department Thoracotomy and Its Predictive Factors.
Emergency department thoracotomy (EDT) may serve as the last survival chance for patients who arrive at hospital in extremis. It is considered as an effective tool for improvement of traumatic patients' outcome. The present study was done with the goal of assessing the outcome of patients who underwent EDT and its predictive factors. ⋯ The findings of the present study showed that the survival rate of trauma patients underwent EDT was 1.7%. In addition, it was defined that falling systolic blood pressure below 80 mmHg and blunt trauma of chest are independent factors that along with poor outcome.
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ABSTRACTBackground:One of the many challenges facing emergency departments (EDs) across North America is timely access to emergency radiology services. Academic institutions, which are typically also regional referral centres, frequently require cross-sectional studies to be performed 24 hours a day with expedited final reports to accelerate patient care and ED flow. Objective:The purpose of this study was to determine if the presence of an in-house radiologist, in addition to a radiology resident dedicated to the ED, had a significant impact on report turnaround time. ⋯ Conclusion:Our results indicate that the presence of a dedicated ED radiologist significantly reduces final report turnaround time and thus may positively impact the time to ED patient disposition. Patient care is improved when attending radiologists are immediately available to read complex films, both in terms of health care outcomes and regarding the need for repeat testing. Providing emergency physicians with accurate imaging findings as rapidly as possible facilitates effective and timely management and thus optimizes patient care.
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To investigate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of adults with occult bacteraemia and the clinical impact of appropriate antibiotics. ⋯ For adults with occult bacteraemia, a lower severity of illness and death rate than those of bacteraemic patients hospitalised for ED visit could be demonstrated, demonstrating the importance of appropriate antibiotic therapy.