Feature Channels: Emergency Medicine

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To minimize transmission of COVID-19, in spring 2020, most U.S. states passed policies promoting social distancing through stay-at-home orders prohibiting non-essential travel. Vehicle-miles traveled in the U.S. decreased by 41% in April 2020 compared to 2019. A new study led by researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital estimated associations between COVID-19-related social-distancing policies, traffic volume, and motor vehicle crash-related outcomes in Ohio.

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Two papers by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center that extend our understanding of the Baylor GSWH scoring system and its application, externally validating it in a different group of patients presenting during a more recent time period in which better acute management techniques are available.

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Administering zinc supplements to covid-19 patients with low levels of this element may be a strategy to reduce mortality and recovery time. At the same time, it could help to prevent risk groups, like the elderly, from suffering the worst effects of the disease.

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Vibeke Hirsch, RN, a nurse at Cedars-Sinai Marina del Rey Hospital, vividly remembers the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when she had more questions than answers and returned home depleted after 12-hour shifts in her COVID-19 unit—longing only to take her dog, Dozer, for a quick walk and then go to sleep.

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As the U.S. population ages, more hospitals are implementing geriatric emergency department (GED) programs with specialized staff focused on transitional care for older adults. A new study finds that providing specialized geriatric emergency care results in lower Medicare expenditures up to $3,200 per beneficiary.

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In a study at Penn researchers found that Pennsylvania’s financial incentive policy encouraged hospitals to enact rapid changes to support treatment for opioid use disorder for patients visiting the ED, and evaluates the efficacy of the Opioid Hospital Quality Improvement Program.

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Among the orthopaedic surgery patients in a study using text messaging to monitor opioid use, 61 percent of their tablets were found to be left over

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Researchers using MRI have found significant abnormalities in the eyes of some people with severe COVID-19, according to a study published in the journal Radiology.

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Researchers from the University of Seville's Nursing Department, with the collaboration of professionals from the ICU at Virgen Macarena University Hospital in Seville, have analysed the key factors in caring for critical COVID-19 patients during the first wave of the pandemic.

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An analysis of CPR interventions after in-hospital cardiac arrests found that the number of pauses in chest compressions greater than 10 seconds consistently impacted survival rates. The study appears to be the first to assess participants at four milestones during their hospital stay.

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Sudden cardiac arrest is more often fatal in people with COVID-19, a new study shows. Those responsible for the research see the results as a wake-up call for the public and care providers alike.

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Case Western Reserve University researchers who developed a portable sensor to assess the clotting ability of a person’s blood are working with the U.S. Navy to develop a rugged version of the device to detect problems with blood coagulation in cases of traumatic injury and preserve critical blood supplies.

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People undergoing long-term dialysis are almost 4 times more likely to die from COVID-19 and should be prioritized for vaccination, found a new Ontario study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

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in a first-of-its-kind study, University of Utah Health scientists found that hormonal IUDs were comparable to copper IUDs for use as emergency contraceptives. The researchers say the finding supports adding hormonal IUDs to current emergency contraception options.

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During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly one in four families responded that they would be unlikely to bring their child to the Emergency Department if they had an emergency condition, according to a survey from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago published in the journal Academic Emergency Medicine. Greater hesitancy to seek emergency care was found in families living in under-resourced communities, those who rely on public insurance and in families who are Black, Latinx or Asian.

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Fourteen months after acquiring the former Bon Secours Baltimore Hospital, LifeBridge Health today debuts a brand-new emergency department (ED) as well as renovated primary care/specialty care clinics and surgery suite at Grace Medical Center in West Baltimore.

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Research from life-saving charity Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex (KSS) in partnership with the University of Surrey has shown the benefits of dispatching HEMS to patients with a sudden, unexplained LOC of medical origin and a high prevalence of acute neurological pathology.

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As the surge of COVID-19 cases increase exponentially across the U.S., the hospitals in the Los Angeles metro area have been particularly hit hard. There are now more than 7,600 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Los Angeles County. Ambulance crews in the area have been advised to cut back on their use of oxygen and to not bring to hospitals patients who have virtually no chance of survival in order to increase capacity and triage care to focus on the sickest patients.