The signs of life that may be monitored or measured, namely pulse rate, respiratory rate, body temperature, and blood pressure.

The continuous measurement of physiological processes, blood pressure, heart rate, renal output, reflexes, respiration, etc., in a patient or experimental animal; includes pharmacologic monitoring, the measurement of administered drugs or their metabolites in the blood, tissues, or urine.

The number of times an organism breathes with the lungs (RESPIRATION) per unit time, usually per minute.

The sorting out and classification of patients or casualties to determine priority of need and proper place of treatment.

Biological actions and events that support the functions of the RESPIRATORY SYSTEM.

Evaluation of manifestations of disease.

Multidisciplinary team most frequently consisting of INTENSIVE CARE UNIT trained personnel who are available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week for evaluation of patients who develop signs or symptoms of severe clinical deterioration.

A method of studying a drug or procedure in which both the subjects and investigators are kept unaware of who is actually getting which specific treatment.

The use of music as an adjunctive therapy in the treatment of neurological, mental, or behavioral disorders.

Professional medical personnel who provide care to patients in an organized facility, institution or agency.

Hospital department responsible for the administration and provision of immediate medical or surgical care to the emergency patient.

Rooms occupied by one or more individuals during a stay in a health facility. The concept includes aspects of environment, design, care, or economics.

Drugs used to induce drowsiness or sleep or to reduce psychological excitement or anxiety.

Studies comparing two or more treatments or interventions in which the subjects or patients, upon completion of the course of one treatment, are switched to another. In the case of two treatments, A and B, half the subjects are randomly allocated to receive these in the order A, B and half to receive them in the order B, A. A criticism of this design is that effects of the first treatment may carry over into the period when the second is given. (Last, A Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2d ed)

A frozen dairy food made from cream or butterfat, milk, sugar, and flavorings. Frozen custard and French-type ice creams also contain eggs.

The number of times the HEART VENTRICLES contract per unit of time, usually per minute.

A hypnotic and sedative used in the treatment of INSOMNIA.

A range of methods used to reduce pain and anxiety during dental procedures.

Degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.

Use of written, printed, or graphic materials upon or accompanying a food or its container or wrapper. The concept includes ingredients, NUTRITIONAL VALUE, directions, warnings, and other relevant information.

Evaluation undertaken to assess the results or consequences of management and procedures used in combating disease in order to determine the efficacy, effectiveness, safety, and practicability of these interventions in individual cases or series.

A drug-induced depression of consciousness during which patients respond purposefully to verbal commands, either alone or accompanied by light tactile stimulation. No interventions are required to maintain a patent airway. (From: American Society of Anesthesiologists Practice Guidelines)

Aryl CYCLOPENTANES that are a reduced (protonated) form of INDENES.

Accidental or deliberate use of a medication or street drug in excess of normal dosage.

Observation of a population for a sufficient number of persons over a sufficient number of years to generate incidence or mortality rates subsequent to the selection of the study group.

Drinking an excessive amount of ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES in a short period of time.

General or unspecified injuries to the chest area.

General or unspecified injuries to the heart.

A statistical means of summarizing information from a series of measurements on one individual. It is frequently used in clinical pharmacology where the AUC from serum levels can be interpreted as the total uptake of whatever has been administered. As a plot of the concentration of a drug against time, after a single dose of medicine, producing a standard shape curve, it is a means of comparing the bioavailability of the same drug made by different companies. (From Winslade, Dictionary of Clinical Research, 1992)

The measure of the level of heat of a human or animal.

Services specifically designed, staffed, and equipped for the emergency care of patients.

Systematic and thorough inspection of the patient for physical signs of disease or abnormality.

Integrated, computer-assisted systems designed to store, manipulate, and retrieve information concerned with the administrative and clinical aspects of providing medical services within the hospital.

The use of electronic equipment to observe or record physiologic processes while the patient undergoes normal daily activities.

Computer-based systems for input, storage, display, retrieval, and printing of information contained in a patient's medical record.

The term "United States" in a medical context often refers to the country where a patient or study participant resides, and is not a medical term per se, but relevant for epidemiological studies, healthcare policies, and understanding differences in disease prevalence, treatment patterns, and health outcomes across various geographic locations.

Levels within a diagnostic group which are established by various measurement criteria applied to the seriousness of a patient's disorder.

Specialized hospital facilities which provide diagnostic and therapeutic services for trauma patients.

Hospital units providing continuous surveillance and care to acutely ill patients.

Any dummy medication or treatment. Although placebos originally were medicinal preparations having no specific pharmacological activity against a targeted condition, the concept has been extended to include treatments or procedures, especially those administered to control groups in clinical trials in order to provide baseline measurements for the experimental protocol.

Telephone surveys are conducted to monitor prevalence of the major behavioral risks among adults associated with premature MORBIDITY and MORTALITY. The data collected is in regard to actual behaviors, rather than on attitudes or knowledge. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) established the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) in 1984.

The relationship between the dose of an administered drug and the response of the organism to the drug.

The process of accepting patients. The concept includes patients accepted for medical and nursing care in a hospital or other health care institution.

Personnel who provide nursing service to patients in a hospital.

PRESSURE of the BLOOD on the ARTERIES and other BLOOD VESSELS.

Systematic organization, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of specialized information, especially of a scientific or technical nature (From ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science, 1983). It often involves authenticating or validating information.

Major administrative divisions of the hospital.

Injuries caused by impact with a blunt object where there is no penetration of the skin.

The giving of drugs, chemicals, or other substances by mouth.

Health care provided to a critically ill patient during a medical emergency or crisis.

Scales, questionnaires, tests, and other methods used to assess pain severity and duration in patients or experimental animals to aid in diagnosis, therapy, and physiological studies.

A short-acting hypnotic-sedative drug with anxiolytic and amnestic properties. It is used in dentistry, cardiac surgery, endoscopic procedures, as preanesthetic medication, and as an adjunct to local anesthesia. The short duration and cardiorespiratory stability makes it useful in poor-risk, elderly, and cardiac patients. It is water-soluble at pH less than 4 and lipid-soluble at physiological pH.

Protective measures against unauthorized access to or interference with computer operating systems, telecommunications, or data structures, especially the modification, deletion, destruction, or release of data in computers. It includes methods of forestalling interference by computer viruses or so-called computer hackers aiming to compromise stored data.

Acquiring information from a patient on past medical conditions and treatments.

Elements of limited time intervals, contributing to particular results or situations.

Situations or conditions requiring immediate intervention to avoid serious adverse results.

Small-scale tests of methods and procedures to be used on a larger scale if the pilot study demonstrates that these methods and procedures can work.

Delivery of health services via remote telecommunications. This includes interactive consultative and diagnostic services.

Studies used to test etiologic hypotheses in which inferences about an exposure to putative causal factors are derived from data relating to characteristics of persons under study or to events or experiences in their past. The essential feature is that some of the persons under study have the disease or outcome of interest and their characteristics are compared with those of unaffected persons.

Conformity in fulfilling or following official, recognized, or institutional requirements, guidelines, recommendations, protocols, pathways, or other standards.

An unpleasant sensation induced by noxious stimuli which are detected by NERVE ENDINGS of NOCICEPTIVE NEURONS.

Interfacility or intrahospital transfer of patients. Intrahospital transfer is usually to obtain a specific kind of care and interfacility transfer is usually for economic reasons as well as for the type of care provided.

An abnormal elevation of body temperature, usually as a result of a pathologic process.

Transmission of the readings of instruments to a remote location by means of wires, radio waves, or other means. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed)

Advanced and highly specialized care provided to medical or surgical patients whose conditions are life-threatening and require comprehensive care and constant monitoring. It is usually administered in specially equipped units of a health care facility.