Emergency Medicine - Adult and Pediatric
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Dangerously Understaffed EDs Can Legally Expose Hospital
If litigation occurs, providers are better served by testifying honestly about staffing levels and the ED’s capacity while avoiding opinions on how these factors affected their ability to provide adequate care.
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Researchers to Test Groundbreaking Treatment for Intracerebral Hemorrhage-Type Strokes
Clot-busting drugs can be used to treat patients with ischemic strokes, but there are no good pharmacological alternatives for patients with intracerebral hemorrhages (ICH). This is a concerning treatment gap because ICH-type stroke outcomes can be dire. The creators of a new trial are testing whether a drug already used in other applications can offer benefits to patients with ICH strokes.
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Palliative Care Guidelines Call for Equipping Frontline Providers to Meet Growing Need
As the U.S. population ages, there is a growing need for clinicians skilled in primary palliative care. Such skills include the ability to assess for need, engage in advance care planning discussions, and provide appropriate care for symptom management that aligns with patients’ wishes. Considering the volume of patients who access care through EDs annually, experts note emergency clinicians often are in position to provide primary palliative care to those with serious or life-threatening conditions.
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A More Effective Approach for Managing Behavioral Health Emergencies
Often, law enforcement officers and EMS crews are dispatched to the scenes of behavioral health emergencies. EMS might transport these patients to the ED. Others might be taken to jail. But in recent years, stakeholders in Dallas have looked closer at these scenarios. At a time when resources are stretched thin, hospital staff, police officers, and communities all are asking questions.
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Neurology Groups Update Position on Stroke and Informed Consent
Experts provide updated ethical guidance on decision-making capacity, emergency treatment, and clinical research.
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Military Medical Treatment Facilities Could Fill Some Gaps in Maternal Care
Women living in rural and underserved areas could benefit.
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Diagnosing and Managing Pediatric Foreign Body Ingestions: Part I
Pediatric foreign body ingestion comes with a dichotomous presentation to the ED — the child in extremis with a clear need for immediate intervention vs. the well-appearing child with unknown ingestion. This creates a challenge for the emergency medicine provider to use a combination of history, physical examination, different imaging modalities, and overall clinical picture to verify ingestion over aspiration and, furthermore, to determine whether there is any need for immediate intervention. The decision-making tree surrounding foreign body ingestion changes based on time course, type of object, location in the gastrointestinal tract, and size. Therefore, a regimented and practical approach to foreign body ingestions is warranted.
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The Latest on COVID-19 Vaccination
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an infodemic of misinformation affecting the ability of the general public to make good decisions about vaccination. Vaccine hesitancy is a byproduct of this infodemic. After reviewing the current available data, the vaccines have an excellent risk/benefit ratio.
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Artificial Intelligence Documentation Assistant Shows Promise for Healthcare Charting
Advocates are seeking relief for physicians overburdened with too many administrative tasks.
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ED Is Focus of Reduction in Sepsis-Related Mortality
Using a sepsis alert, combined with nursing protocols and physician order set usage, can improve core measure compliance and related mortality rates.