Articles: emergency-services.
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The metropolitan area of Mexico City, Mexico, has serious air pollution problems. Although air contaminants may contribute to clinical asthma, there are at present no data on the relation between air pollution exposure and childhood asthma in Mexico City. The authors reviewed data on emergency visits from January to June 1990 at one major pediatric hospital in Mexico City. ⋯ After adjustment for potential confounding factors, the multivariate regression model predicted that an increase of 50 ppb in the 1-hour maximum ozone level would lead to a 43% increase in the number of emergency visits for asthma on the following day. Exposure to high ozone levels (> 110 ppb) for 2 consecutive days increased the number of asthma-related emergency visits by 68 percent. The results of this study suggest that ozone exposure is positively associated with the number of children's emergency visits for asthma in Mexico City.
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To determine emergency department patients' perceptions of their illness urgency, their attempts to get care elsewhere, and the proportion of patients referred to the ED. ⋯ In addition to their lack of access to other providers, patients' perceived need for immediate care and referrals by health professionals contribute to ED use for nonemergency conditions.
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Can J Public Health · Mar 1995
An evaluation of a hospital-based drinking and driving prevention program.
For the past four years, Victoria Hospital has provided a drinking and driving prevention program: IMPACT - Impaired Minds Produced by Alcohol Cause Trauma. The program provides information to Grade 11 students about the potential "impact" of alcohol-related trauma on themselves, their family and their future. ⋯ Determining whether or not increased knowledge and changed attitude in fact results in changed behaviour is beyond the scope of this study. Further longitudinal, quantitative evaluation of program effectiveness, based on traffic safety indices, is being undertaken.
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To assess the potential effects of rapid bedside blood analysis on patient management in the ED. ⋯ In our ED, the PCA yielded faster reporting of laboratory values. These earlier results might have reduced the length of stay in the ED for 17.3% of patients studied. Selective use of a handheld portable analyzer might decrease time to therapeutic interventions and time to disposition.
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Comparative Study
Who should see eye casualties?: a comparison of eye care in an accident and emergency department with a dedicated eye casualty.
Emergency care for eye complaints is provided both by accident and emergency (A&E) departments as well as by dedicated eye casualty departments. This study examines the role of each type of department and the quality of eye care provided. Significant differences were found between the accident and emergency department and the eye casualty department in the history, examination and management of eye patients. ⋯ Most of the omissions related to a failure to perform an adequate, yet simple, ocular examination including failure to record visual acuity. In 44% (44-100) of A&E cases visual acuity was not recorded or recorded incorrectly. In comparison acuity omissions in eye casualty were present in only 4% (2/50) of cases.