Articles: emergency-services.
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Increasing attention is being paid by staffs of hospitals and directors of our national health agencies to providing emergency medical services for trauma care. The results of a nationwide survey documenting the structure and process components of trauma care in all 24 acute care hospitals in Israel are presented. ⋯ The results show extreme interhospital variation in physical structure of trauma services and in manpower, protocols and critical resource. However, it is evident that the main focus for intervention in the quality of initial trauma care in hospitals in Israel, is to establish and implement organizational standards.
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To describe the development of an injury-surveillance system based on the emergency department log. ⋯ With minimal training and cost, the ED log can be adapted for collection of injury data on all patients seen in the ED.
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The twin goals of health care reform--providing universal coverage and limiting health care costs--will require increased primary care access and reductions in the overuse of inappropriate subspecialty interventions. The emergency department provides acute care access for all patients and nonemergency care for those patients unable to find other sources of care. ⋯ These two effects may endanger the viability of the ED as the safety net of the health care system. The impact of health care reform on the emergency care system of the nation requires careful analysis to protect the important role of the ED in providing acute care and in guaranteeing access to care.