Articles: emergency-medicine.
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Pediatric emergency care · Apr 2024
Building Blocks-A Block-by-Block Approach to Better Emergency Care in Children.
We describe a case series of regional nerve blocks, which comprise an adapted framework for the pediatric emergency setting and were performed by pediatric emergency medicine physicians. ⋯ We describe a set of nerve blocks performed by emergency medicine physicians in the pediatric population in an ED setting. In suitable settings, this is a safe and effective tool for procedural analgesia or for pain management. In such cases, performing an ultrasound-guided nerve block in the ED is a viable alternative for repeated doses of opiates, deep procedural sedation, or the operating theater. We propose this set of regional anesthesia procedures as a pediatric-adapted toolkit for the emergency physician to be performed in children in the ED setting. Adopting this set of procedures ensures better and safer care for children and provides a training framework for pediatric ED physicians.
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Though the disease burden addressable by prehospital and out-of-hospital emergency care(OHEC) spans communicable diseases, maternal conditions, chronic conditions and injury, the single largest disability-adjusted life year burden contributor is injury, primarily driven by road traffic injuries(RTIs). Establishing OHEC for RTIs and other common emergencies in low- and middle-income countries(LMICs) where the injury burden is disproportionately greatest is a logical first step toward more comprehensive emergency medical services(EMS). However, with limited efforts to formalize and expand existing informal bystander care networks, there is a lack of consensus on how to develop and maintain bystander-driven Tier-1 EMS systems in LMICs. Resultantly, Tier-1 EMS development is fragmented among non-governmental organizations and the public sector globally. ⋯ Consensus is necessary to avoid duplicative and disorganized efforts due to the fragmented nature of parallel Tier-1 EMS efforts globally. A Delphi-like multi-round expert discussion among the members of the largest collaboration between organizations directing Tier-1 EMS programs globally generated relevant priorities to direct future efforts.
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2024
Benchmarking blood culture quality in the emergency department: Contamination, single sets and positivity.
To benchmark blood culture (BC) quality in an Australian ED, explore groups at risk of suboptimal BC collection, and identify potential areas for improvement. ⋯ BC quality standards in the ED such as false positive rate <3% and single culture rate <20% are required to facilitate benchmarking and prospective quality improvement. The sensitivity and specificity of this common and critical test can be improved. Patient subgroups associated with poor-quality BC collection can be identified and should be a focus of future work.
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Pediatric emergency care · Apr 2024
Test Characteristics of Cardiac Point-of-Care Ultrasound in Children With Preexisting Cardiac Conditions.
The aim of the study is to assess diagnostic performance of cardiac point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) performed by pediatric emergency medicine (PEM) physicians in children with preexisting cardiac disease. ⋯ Cardiac POCUS demonstrates good sensitivity and specificity in diagnosing pericardial effusion and left ventricular systolic dysfunction in children with preexisting cardiac conditions when technically adequate studies are obtained. These findings support future studies of cardiac POCUS in children with preexisting cardiac conditions presenting to the ED.
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Observational Study
Assessing the precision of artificial intelligence in emergency department triage decisions: Insights from a study with ChatGPT.
The rise in emergency department presentations globally poses challenges for efficient patient management. To address this, various strategies aim to expedite patient management. Artificial intelligence's (AI) consistent performance and rapid data interpretation extend its healthcare applications, especially in emergencies. The introduction of a robust AI tool like ChatGPT, based on GPT-4 developed by OpenAI, can benefit patients and healthcare professionals by improving the speed and accuracy of resource allocation. This study examines ChatGPT's capability to predict triage outcomes based on local emergency department rules. ⋯ Our findings suggest GPT-4 possess outstanding predictive skills in triaging patients in an emergency setting. GPT-4 can serve as an effective tool to support the triage process.