Articles: emergency-services.
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Observational Study
Effect of access block on emergency department crowding calculated by NEDOCS score.
Emergency department (ED) crowding poses a significant challenge in healthcare systems globally, leading to delays in patient care and threatening public health and staff well-being. Access block, characterized by delays in admitting patients awaiting hospitalization, is a primary contributor to ED overcrowding. To address this issue, the National Emergency Department Overcrowding Study (NEDOCS) score provides an objective framework for assessing ED crowding severity. This study aims to evaluate the impact of access block on ED crowding using the NEDOCS score and to explore strategies for mitigating overcrowding through scenarios over a 39-day period. ⋯ Although ED crowding is a multifactorial problem, our study has shown that access block contribute significantly to this problem. The study emphasizes that eliminating access block through timely admissions could substantially alleviate crowding, highlighting the importance of addressing this issue to enhance ED efficiency and overall healthcare delivery.
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2024
Bedside urine testing for fentanyl in self-reported heroin users in a tertiary Brisbane emergency department.
To determine if patients presenting to our toxicology unit following self-reported heroin use had positive urine immunoassay testing for fentanyl or its analogues. ⋯ In patients presenting to our toxicology unit in Brisbane, we did not find any cases where the urine of patients self-reporting heroin exposure tested positive for fentanyl or its analogues.
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Pediatric emergency care · Aug 2024
Clinical Characteristics and Delayed Diagnosis of Pediatric Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department With a Newly Diagnosed Central Nervous System Tumor: A Single Institutional Experience.
Due to the varied symptomatology and inconsistent features on neurologic exam, central nervous system (CNS) tumors are difficult to diagnosis in a timely manner. ⋯ Our series highlights the complexity of symptomology and neurologic findings in children presenting to the ED with newly diagnosed CNS tumors who may have a normal neurologic examination. Standardization of symptom assessment and focused neurologic examinations may lead to earlier neuroimaging and prevent delayed diagnosis.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Aug 2024
Perioperative Primary Care Utilization and Postoperative Readmission, Emergency Department Use, and Mortality in Older Surgical Patients.
Postdischarge primary care follow-up is associated with lower readmission rates after medical hospitalizations. However, the effect of primary care utilization on readmission has not been studied in surgical patients. ⋯ Both postdischarge visits and the Medicare Annual Wellness Visit appear to be extremely underutilized among the older surgical population. In those patients who do utilize primary care, compared with propensity-matched patients who do not, our study suggests primary care use is associated with modestly lower readmission rates. Prospective studies are needed to determine whether targeted primary care involvement can reduce readmission.
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This study aims to assess the outcome of challenging documented moderate, severe, or unknown beta-lactam allergies with full dose administration of a beta-lactam antibiotic in emergency department (ED) patients admitted for acute bacterial infection. ⋯ This study suggests that full-dose challenge of moderate, severe, or unknown beta-lactam allergies can be safely accomplished in the ED. This approach avoids unnecessary penicillin allergy skin testing and reduces utilization of suboptimal alternative antibiotic regimens.