Common issues in the care of sick neonates.
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Newborn infants may be transferred to a special care nursery because of conditions such as prematurity (gestation less than 37 weeks), prolonged resuscitation, respiratory distress, cyanosis, and jaundice, and for evaluation of neonatal sepsis. Newborn infants' core temperature should be kept above 36.4 degrees C (97.5 degrees F). Nutritional requirements are usually 100 to 120 kcal per kg per day to achieve an average weight gain of 150 to 200 g (5 to 7 oz) per week. Standard infant formulas containing 20 kcal per mL and maternal breast milk may be inadequate for premature infants, who require special formulas or fortifiers that provide a higher calorie content (up to 24 kcal per mL). Intravenous fluids should be given when infants are not being fed enterally, such as those with tachypnea greater than 60 breaths per minute. Hypoglycemia can be asymptomatic in large-for-gestational-age infants and infants of mothers who have diabetes. A hyperoxia test can be used to differentiate between pulmonary and cardiac causes of hypoxemia. The potential for neonatal sepsis increases with the presence of risk factors such as prolonged rupture of membranes and maternal colonization with group B streptococcus. Jaundice, especially on the first day of life, should be evaluated and treated. If the infant does not progressively improve in the special care nursery, transfer to a tertiary care unit may be necessary. (+info)
Inter-hospital transfer of critically-ill patients for urgent cardiac surgery after placement of an intra-aortic balloon pump.
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METHODS: To assess the safety and feasibility of transfer of patients requiring urgent cardiac surgery, from a hospital without onsite cardiac surgical facilities, after insertion of an intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) to maintain clinical and hemodynamic stability, a retrospective review of all cardiac charactheterizations was performed. Sixty-two patients required IABPs, among whom 24 were transported to a surgical center from the outskirts of Lisbon to the city center in an ambulance accompanied by a physician, a nurse and paramedical personnel. RESULTS: Patients who required hemodynamic support with IABPs usually had unstable angina with critical coronary lesions requiring immediate surgical intervention, hypotensive patients with mechanical complications after an AMI, and patients with AMI who did not receive thrombolytic therapy, and with coronary lesions not amenable to percutaneous coronary intervention. All patients reached the surgical center alive, and no patient had either hemodynamic or electrical instability during transport. CONCLUSIONS: Surface transport of patients requiring emergency cardiac surgery after insertion of IABPs is safe, feasible and may provide circulatory and clinical stability in a subset of critically-ill patients. (+info)
Inpatient transfers to the intensive care unit: delays are associated with increased mortality and morbidity.
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OBJECTIVE: To examine if delayed transfer to the intensive care unit (ICU) after physiologic deterioration is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. DESIGN: Inception cohort. SETTING: Community hospital in Ogden, Utah. PATIENTS: Ninety-one consecutive inpatients with noncardiac diagnoses at the time of emergent transfer to the ICU. We determined the time when each patient first met any of 11 pre-specified physiologic criteria. We classified patients as "slow transfer" when patients met a physiologic criterion 4 or more hours before transfer to the ICU. Patients were followed until discharge. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS: In-hospital mortality, functional status at hospital discharge, hospital resources. MAIN RESULTS: At the time when the first physiologic criterion was met on the ward, slow- and rapid-transfer patients were similar in terms of age, gender, diagnosis, number of days in hospital prior to ICU transfer, prehospital functional status, and APACHE II scores. By the time slow-transfer patients were admitted to the ICU, they had significantly higher APACHE II scores (21.7 vs 16.2; P =.002) and were more likely to die in-hospital (41% vs 11%; relative risk [RR], 3.5; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.4 to 9.5). Slow-transfer patients were less likely to have had their physician notified of deterioration within 2 hours of meeting physiologic criteria (59% vs 31%; P =.001) and less likely to have had a bedside physician evaluation within the first 3 hours after meeting criteria (23% vs 83%; P =.001). CONCLUSIONS: Slow transfer to the ICU of physiologically defined high-risk hospitalized patients was associated with increased risk of death. Slow response to physiologic deterioration may explain these findings. (+info)
Emergency department overcrowding and ambulance transport delays for patients with chest pain.
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OBJECTIVE: Emergency department overcrowding sometimes results in diversion of ambulances to other locations. We sought to determine the resulting prehospital delays for cardiac patients. METHODS: Data on consecutive patients with chest pain who were transported to Toronto hospitals by ambulance were obtained for a 4-month period in 1997 and a 4-month period in 1999, which represented periods of low and high emergency department overcrowding respectively. Multivariate analyses were used to model 90th percentile system response (initiation of 9-1-1 call to arrival on scene), on-scene (arrival on scene to departure from scene) and transport (departure from scene to arrival at hospital) intervals. Predictor variables were study period (1997 or 1999), day of the week, time of day, geographic location of the patient, dispatch priority, case severity, return priority and number of other patients with chest pain transported within 2 hours of the index transport. RESULTS: A total of 3609 patients (mean age 66.3 years, 50.3% female) who met the study criteria were transported by ambulance during the 2 study periods. There were no significant differences in patient characteristics between the 2 periods, despite the fact that more patients were transported during the second period (p < 0.001). The 90th percentile system response interval increased by 11.3% from the first to the second period (9.7 v. 10.8 min, p < 0.001), whereas the on-scene interval decreased by 8.2% (28.0 v. 25.7 min, p < 0.001). The longest delay was in the transport interval, which increased by 28.4% from 1997 to 1999 (13.4 v. 17.2 min, p < 0.001). In multivariate analyses, the study period (1997 v. 1999) remained a significant predictor of longer transport interval (p < 0.001) and total prehospital interval (p = 0.004). INTERPRETATION: An increase in overcrowding in emergency departments was associated with a substantial increase in the system response interval and the ambulance transport interval for patients with chest pain. (+info)
Providing treatment to prisoners with mental disorders: development of a policy. Selective literature review and expert consultation exercise.
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BACKGROUND: Mental disorder is more prevalent among people in prison than in the general population. Prisoners who require transfer to psychiatric hospitals for treatment face long delays. Doctors working in prisons regularly face ethical and legal dilemmas posed by prisoners with mental illness. AIMS: To develop a policy for providing treatment under the common law to prisoners with mental disorders who lack treatment decision-making capacity, while arrangements are made to transfer them to hospital. METHOD: The policy was developed through literature review and consultation with the Faculty of Law at Southampton University and health care staff at Winchester prison in the UK. RESULTS: The policy provides guidelines for establishing decision-making capacity, standards for documentation, and guidelines for implementation based on the Mental Health Act Code of Practice, other best-practice guidelines and case law. CONCLUSIONS: It can be argued that case law allows more-extensive treatment to be provided in the best interests of the incompetent prisoner, beyond emergency situations. The policy has ethical implications and its use should be carefully monitored. (+info)
Implications of hospital evacuation after the Northridge, California, earthquake.
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BACKGROUND: On January 17, 1994, an earthquake with a moment magnitude (total energy release) of 6.7 occurred in Northridge, California, leading to the evacuation of patients from several hospitals. We examined the reasons for and methods of evacuation and the emergency-management strategies used. The experience in California may have implications for hospital strategies for responding to any major disaster, including an act of terrorism. METHODS: From September 1995 to September 1996, we surveyed all acute care hospitals in Los Angeles County that reported having evacuated patients after the Northridge earthquake. Physicians, nurses, hospital administrators, and staff on duty at the hospitals during the evacuation responded to a 58-item structured questionnaire. RESULTS: Eight of 91 acute care hospitals (9 percent) were evacuated. Six hospitals evacuated patients within 24 hours (the immediate-evacuation group), four completely and two partially. All six cited nonstructural damage such as water damage and loss of electrical power as a major reason for evacuation. Five hospitals evacuated the most seriously ill patients first, and one hospital evacuated the healthiest patients first. All hospitals used available equipment to transport patients (blankets, backboards, and gurneys) rather than specialized devices. No deaths resulted from evacuation. One hospital evacuated patients after 3 days and another after 14 days because of structural damage, even though initial inspections had shown no damage (the delayed-evacuation group). Both hospitals required demolition. Some hospitals identified destinations for their evacuated patients independently, whereas others sought the assistance of the Los Angeles County Emergency Operations Center; the two strategies were equally effective. CONCLUSIONS: After even a moderate earthquake, hospitals are at risk for both immediate nonstructural damage that may force them to evacuate patients and the delayed discovery of structural damage resulting in permanent closure. Evacuation of large numbers of inpatients from multiple hospitals can be accomplished quickly and safely with the use of available resources and personnel. (+info)
Expanded modes of tissue plasminogen activator delivery in a comprehensive stroke center increases regional acute stroke interventions.
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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: We sought to evaluate whether a comprehensive stroke center could work with regional hospitals to increase the use of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) in acute stroke. METHODS: In 30 months, 142 patients seen at the Mid America Brain and Stroke Institute received tPA. Site of presentation, protocol selection, and outcomes were analyzed. RESULTS: We found that 18.2% (142 of 781) of all ischemic strokes received tPA. Of those, 70% (99 of 142) were transferred from hospitals within 100 miles of Kansas City (Mo). Mortality rate was 12.7% (18 of 142). Symptomatic hemorrhage rate was 9.2%. CONCLUSIONS: A comprehensive stroke center can serve as a hub for a regional network and increase the number of stroke interventions with acceptable outcomes. (+info)
Descriptive epidemiology of adult critical care transfers from the emergency department.
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AIMS: To describe the nature, frequency, and characteristics of adult critical care transfers originating from the emergency department (ED). METHODS: A one year prospective regional descriptive study using multiple data sources of all critically ill adults transferred from an ED or a minor injuries unit (MIU) within the former Yorkshire Regional Health Authority Area or into a regional critical care facility if originating from an ED or MIU elsewhere. RESULTS: 29 EDs transferred 349 adults into the regional critical care facilities. The median number of transfers per department within the region was 18 (range 1 to 42). Seventeen were transferred from outside the region. A total of 263 (75%) patients were transferred for specialist care and 76 (22%) for non-clinical reasons. Altogether 294 (84%) were admitted to intensive care or a high dependency unit at the receiving hospital. The in-hospital documented mortality rate was 26%. A total of 170 patients (49%) had traumatic pathology of which 101 were principally transferred for management of a head injury. Median time in the ED was 3 hours 5 minutes (range 11 minutes to 17 hours 47 minutes). In 146 (42%) patients the decision to transfer was primarily made by the emergency medicine clinician. A total of 251 (72%) patients were intubated. The documented critical incident rate was 15%. CONCLUSION: Trauma is the most common reason for transfer of the critically ill adult from the ED. A significant number of patients are transferred, however, with medical and surgical conditions and for non-clinical reasons. There continues to be problems with the quality of care that these patients receive. Emergency medicine clinicians must be actively involved in the development of regional critical care systems as a significant proportion of all critically ill adults transferred originate from the ED. (+info)