Articles: emergency-department.
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Editor's capsule summary for Cruz et al: (1) WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ON THIS TOPIC: Valid clinical research requires high-quality data collection. Physicians are commonly considered the standard by which valid prospective data are obtained. WHAT QUESTION THIS STUDY ADDRESSED: This study determined whether non-medically trained research assistants could reliably collect subjective historical data from emergency department patients with chest pain. ⋯ Research assistants demonstrated fair to excellent reliability (as defined by crude agreement and kappa) when obtaining cardiac histories and cardiac risk factors. HOW THIS MIGHT CHANGE CLINICAL PRACTICE: The results of this study will not change clinical practice. They do, however, provide evidence to support the use of trained research assistants for the collection of certain types of clinical data.
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The elderly population is increasing in absolute and relative terms in most developed countries, and this is protected to have a major impact on the delivery of health care, particularly acute and emergency services. The aim of this study is to describe the pattern of utilization of emergency department (ED) services in Hong Kong by the elderly and to compare it to the utilization by younger adults. ⋯ With the foreseeable rapid growth of the elderly population, ED utilization by the elderly will increase. Health service delivery, including that in the ED, needs to take account of the specific features and requirements of the elderly population in each locale.
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This research was conducted to determine the opinions of the emergency department's personnel about the causes and prevention of violence directed at them by patients and their relatives. ⋯ On the basis of the research results, it is recommended that emergency personnel be trained on the subject of violence, a documentation system be developed for recording and reporting violence, and corrections be made to prevent violence based on the personnel's opinions.
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Postintubation chest X-rays (CXR) are standard practice in emergency department (ED) intubations. In the operating room, it is not usually a standard practice to confirm endotracheal tube placement with a CXR. ⋯ ED intubations were judged to have "satisfactory" placement by CXR in 81% of patients. CXR is able to identify a small subset of patients that likely need immediate intervention based on their CXR. Until further studies refute the utility of postintubation CXR in ED intubations, they should remain a part of routine practice.