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In this first part of a two-part series on benchmarking, we tell you about two hospitals that achieved dramatic reductions in length of stay (LOS). Next month, we discuss how to speed up admissions by addressing virtual capacity issues with the entire hospital.)
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One of the key challenges for ED managers when faced with a communitywide health crisis be it terrorism, infectious disease, or natural disaster is surge capacity.
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In this special package on responding to unexpected events, we take a look at how ED managers should plan for disasters natural or otherwise that can stretch your resources and your nerves beyond their normal limits. We consider the challenge of treating patients when there is no longer an ED, as was the case at one hospital after Hurricane Charley.
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Complications of sickle cell disease are a common presentation to the emergency department. Emergency physicians and nurses must treat complications of this disease process aggressively.
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Trauma to the thoracic cavity is responsible for approximately 10-25%
of all trauma-related deaths, with the majority of these deaths
occurring after arrival at the emergency department. The mortality for
isolated chest injury is relatively low (less than 5%); however, with
multiple organ system involvement, the mortality approaches 30%. This
article dissects the critical aspects of thoracic trauma and highlights
acute care management strategies.
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From October 2003 to Jan. 9, 2004, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received reports of 93 influenza-associated deaths among children younger than 18 years. The demands the annual flu season places on emergency department and urgent care facilities and the voracity of the current years epidemic have overwhelmed many physicians.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention note that fractures were the fourth-leading cause of injury-related emergency department visits in 2000, accounting for 3.8 million visits. Patients may develop serious and life-threatening complications of orthopedic trauma. Because signs and symptoms of these complications may not be readily apparent when patients present, emergency physicians and nurses need to be cognizant of high-risk presentations. This months issue focuses on these high-risk presentations, including open fractures, compartment syndromes, malignancies, and septic joints.
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Schull MJ, Vermeulen M, Slaughter G, et al. Emergency department crowding and thrombolysis delays in acute myocardial infarction. Ann Emerg Med; in press.
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A growing number of ED managers are coming to realize pain is much more than a physical symptom and taking a more holistic approach to pain can not only ease patient discomfort, but improve satisfaction.
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Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States, surpassed only by heart diseases and malignant neoplasms. Part 1 of this series will cover the differential diagnosis of stroke, stroke mimics, and risk factors and prevention. Part II will cover the physical examination, laboratory investigations, imaging, and treatment of stroke.
