Emergency medical training for dental students. (1/534)

Twenty-four of the thirty-two German universities that have dental schools replied to a questionnaire survey that showed that all the schools responding held lectures on the topic "Medical Emergencies" although this is not mandatory for registration. All of the universities in the former East Germany also offered practical training sessions as part of the curriculum. The proportion of West German universities offering such courses is only 60%. The basic essentials of the theory and practice of emergency medicine should only be taught in courses with mandatory participation.  (+info)

An audit of emergency abdominal aortic aneurysm repair to establish the necessity for an emergency vascular surgical rota. (2/534)

Mortality for emergency abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair remains high but results of specialist vascular surgeons are superior to those of general surgeons. A retrospective audit was performed on all patients undergoing emergency AAA repair over 53 months at one hospital to determine the necessity for a vascular specialist on-call rota. Patients were stratified into two groups, those treated by specialist vascular surgeons and those treated by general surgeons. There were 37 patients in the vascular surgeon group and 36 in the general surgeon group. There was no significant difference between the two groups when age, sex distribution, APACHE II score on admission, pre-operative delay and type of rupture were considered. The average operating time was 114.7 min in the vascular surgeon group and 111.9 min in the general surgeon group. Total blood transfusion requirements, and postoperative duration of ventilation, inotrope therapy and intensive treatment unit stay were similar in the two groups. Intra-operative, 30-day and cumulative hospital mortalities were 10.8% versus 8.3%, 32.4% versus 38.9% and 40.5% versus 38.9% in the vascular surgeon and general surgeon groups, respectively. The mortality figures compare favourably with other published series. As the results of the two groups were similar, there is currently no need for vascular surgeons to be routinely available for acute AAA surgery at our hospital.  (+info)

Should UK emergency physicians undertake diagnostic ultrasound examinations? (3/534)

From the published evidence there is no doubt that emergency physicians in America can undertake focused ultrasound examinations and that, by extrapolation, this would also be the case for UK emergency physicians. If this skill is to become part of the diagnostic armamentarium of the emergency physician, however, it needs to be demonstrated to be cost effective compared with the alternatives already available to the hospital. Trials to test for this benefit should adopt a hospital and not an emergency department perspective if the results are to influence health policy and specialty training.  (+info)

Prospective survey to verify the Ottawa ankle rules. (4/534)

OBJECTIVE: To determine if the Ottawa ankle rules are valid in the setting of an urban teaching hospital in the UK. DESIGN: A prospective survey. SETTING: Accident and emergency department, Western Infirmary, Glasgow from 1 April 1995 to 31 August 1995. SUBJECTS: 800 patients with an acute ankle injury. RESULTS: 800 patients were used for analysis of which 584 (73%) were radiographed; 70 (12%) had fractures, 63 (10.8%) of which were significant. Four of these patients with fractures fulfilled none of the Ottawa ankle rules criteria for plain radiography. CONCLUSION: Application of the Ottawa ankle rules to this group of patients would have produced a sensitivity of 93.6%. Although useful, decision rules should be used with care and not replace clinical judgment and experience.  (+info)

Training and supervision needs and experience: a longitudinal, cross-sectional survey of accident and emergency department senior house officers. (5/534)

The aim of this study was to investigate senior house officers' (SHOs) perceptions about their training needs, satisfaction with teaching and supervision, and the relationship this has with psychological distress levels. All 171 SHOs employed within 27 accident and emergency (A&E) departments in the South Thames region were sent questionnaires at the start of their attachments in A&E, at the end of months four and six. The questionnaires asked SHOs to rate on visual analogue scales their perceived need for further training for 23 clinical and practical activities relevant to A&E practice. At the end of the fourth month SHOs were asked to indicate who had provided them with the most valuable teaching and supervision, indicate their satisfaction levels with training received, and suggest ways to improve teaching and supervision. SHOs' psychological distress levels were measured in all three questionnaires. Overall, satisfaction with supervision and training was mixed. SHOs perceived greatest need for further training in areas encountered less frequently in A&E. Registrars were the most valued providers of supervision and teaching. Increased numbers of middle grade staff and protected study time were suggested as ways to improve supervision and teaching. SHOs with higher scores for training need at the end of their attachment in A&E expressed significantly less satisfaction with training and higher psychological distress levels. The variation between SHOs' perceptions of training needs indicates the importance of tailoring training and supervision to individual requirements.  (+info)

Medical cover at Scottish football matches: have the recommendations of the Gibson Report been met? (6/534)

OBJECTIVES: To determine if doctors providing medical care at Scottish football stadiums meet the standards recommended by the Gibson Report. METHODS: A postal questionnaire and telephone follow up of doctors involved with the 40 Scottish League teams. RESULTS: 47% of the doctors had not attended any relevant resuscitation courses and 72% had no training in major incident management. CONCLUSIONS: The recommendations of the Gibson Report with regard to medical cover at football stadiums have not been fully implemented in Scotland.  (+info)

Management of major trauma: changes required for improvement. (7/534)

AIMS: To describe the views of key healthcare professionals on the changes they considered to be important in the reduction of major trauma mortality between 1988 and 1995 in Leeds. METHODS: Qualitative unstructured interviews with a purposive sample of 10 healthcare professionals deemed to be key personnel by an experienced consultant who had provided acute trauma care throughout the relevant period. Each interview was tape recorded and transcribed; each transcript was analysed for important themes by two independent researchers who then discussed their results to resolve any differences in interpretation. RESULTS: Three categories of change became evident: "policy", "infrastructure", and "philosophy of care". Each of these categories seemed to be equally important. Policy changes identified as important were the Royal College of Surgeons of England's report into trauma care (1988), the setting of standards for paramedic training, and the national audit of major trauma outcomes. Important infrastructure changes identified were training in advanced trauma life support, decreased ambulance response times, reorganisation towards "consultant led" hospital services, and an emphasis on quality monitoring. Changes in philosophy of care were increases in levels of teamwork, commitment, communication, and confidence. Together these facilitated an overall restructuring and refocusing of care. CONCLUSIONS: No individual change is seen as dominant for improved care, but rather a strategic mixture of facilitating national and regional policy guidance, organisational restructuring, and congruent professional attitudes were integral components leading to the observed changes. Improving outcomes in other areas is likely to involve an integrated series of changes which must be managed as a total system.  (+info)

Data quality and the electronic medical record: a role for direct parental data entry. (8/534)

INTRODUCTION: The paper and electronic medical record (EMR) have evolved with little scientific inquiry into what effect the informant (clinician or patient) has on the validity of the recorded information. We have previously reported on an electronic interview program that facilitated parents' direct reporting of past medical history data. We sought to define additional data elements that parents could report electronically and to compare parents' electronically entered data to that charted by physicians using the current EMR system. METHODS: A convenience sample of parents was recruited to enter data on history of present illness (HPI) and review of systems (ROS) elements using an electronic interview. Data from the electronic parental interview and information abstracted from the physician EMR were compared to data derived from a face-to-face criterion standard interview. Validity, sensitivity and specificity of each mode of data entry were calculated. RESULTS: 100 of 140 eligible parents (71.4%) participated. Validity of information from the electronic interview was comparable to that charted by emergency physicians for HPI regarding fever and ROS questions. Sensitivity of parents' electronic interview was superior to physicians' charting for ROS elements specific to hydration status. CONCLUSIONS: Improved sensitivity for detection of historical risk factors for illness can be achieved by augmenting the pediatric EMR with a section for direct parental direct data input. Direct parental data input to the EMR should be considered to improve the quality of documentation for medical histories.  (+info)

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9
• 10