Articles: emergency-department.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Jul 2013
Is comorbid status the best predictor of one-year mortality in patients with severe sepsis and sepsis with shock?
Understanding longer term outcomes in critically ill patients will assist treatment decisions, allocation of scarce resources and clinical research in that population. The aim of this study was to compare a well-validated means of determining comorbidity, the Charlson Comorbidity Score, to other verified risk stratification models in predicting one-year mortality and other outcomes in emergency department patients with severe sepsis and sepsis with shock. We conducted a planned subgroup analysis of a prospective observational study, the Critical Illness and Shock Study, in adult patients with sepsis meeting study criteria for critical illness. ⋯ For predicting one-year mortality, the area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve for age-weighted Charlson Comorbidity Score (0.71, 95% confidence interval 0.61 to 0.81) was at least as good or superior to other scoring systems analysed. The intensive care unit admission rate was 45% and the median hospital length-of-stay was eight days. We conclude that in patients who present to the emergency department with severe sepsis or sepsis with shock, age-weighted Charlson Comorbidity Score is a predictor of one-year mortality that is simple to calculate and at least as accurate as other validated scoring systems.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Induction of a shorter compression phase is correlated with a deeper chest compression during metronome-guided cardiopulmonary resuscitation: a manikin study.
Recent studies have shown that there may be an interaction between duty cycle and other factors related to the quality of chest compression. Duty cycle represents the fraction of compression phase. We aimed to investigate the effect of shorter compression phase on average chest compression depth during metronome-guided cardiopulmonary resuscitation. ⋯ Induction of a shorter compression phase is correlated with a deeper chest compression during metronome-guided cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
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Computed tomography (CT) scan has been an increasingly essential diagnostic tool for emergency physicians (EPs) to triage emergency patients. Canadian computed tomography Head Rule (CCHR) had been established and widely used to spare patients with mild head injury from unnecessary radiation. However, the awareness of CCHR and its actual utilization among Chinese EPs were unknown. This survey was to investigate the awareness and use of CCHR and their associated characteristics among Chinese EPs. ⋯ Fear of malpractice and lack of radiation risk knowledge were two main barriers to apply CCHR in the request of CT for patients with mild head injury. Furthermore, EPs with specific training about radiation risk of CT were more likely to know and use of CCHR.
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J Pediatr Oncol Nurs · Jul 2013
Care of children with sickle cell disease in the emergency department: parent and provider perspectives inform quality improvement efforts.
Children with sickle cell disease (SCD) present to the emergency department (ED) with complex medical and behavioral health needs. Little research has been conducted to understand elements necessary to provide a comprehensive approach. We conducted 9 focus groups and 2 individual interviews with ED nurses, ED physicians, parents, 1 SCD nurse practitioner, and 1 SCD hematologist in 6 states. ⋯ Decisions included triage, analgesic management, diagnostic evaluation, disposition, and high risk evaluation and referrals needed at discharge. Participants identified critical areas that can be used to organize and improve the assessment, management, and disposition/referral decisions in order to provide better care to children with SCD in the ED. Parent input was critical for each decision.
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Emergency departments (EDs) are characterized by simultaneous care of multiple patients with various medical conditions. Due to a large number of patients with complex diseases, speed and complexity of medication use, working in under-staffing and crowded environment, medication errors are commonly perpetrated by emergency care providers. This study was designed to evaluate the incidence of medication errors among patients attending to an ED in a teaching hospital in Iran. ⋯ In this study, at least one-fifth of the patients attending to ED experienced medication errors resulting from multiple factors. More common prescription errors happened during ordering drug dose and frequency. More common administration errors included dug omission or unauthorized drug.