Impact of Chemical, Biological, Radiation, and Nuclear Personal Protective Equipment on the performance of low- and high-dexterity airway and vascular access skills

From Resuscitation:

Background
Following CBRN incidents health care professionals will be required to care for critically ill patients within the warm zone, prior to decontamination, whilst wearing CBRN-PPE. The loss of fine-motor skills may adversely affect delivery of medical care.

Methods
64 clinicians were recruited to perform, intubation, LMA placement, insertion of an IV cannula and IO needle whilst [...]

Out-of hospital advanced life support with or without a physician: Effects on quality of CPR and outcome

From Resuscitation:

Background
The presence of physicians is believed to facilitate optimal management of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, but has not been sufficiently documented.

Methods
Adult non-traumatic cardiac arrests treated by Oslo EMS between May 2003 and April 2008 were prospectively registered. Patients were categorized according to being treated by the physician-manned ambulance (PMA) or by regular paramedic-manned ambulances (non-PMA). [...]

More Leave Hospital Against Advice

From MedPage Today:
The number of people who check out of hospitals against medical advice has grown dramatically, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. In 2007, the agency said, inpatient care ended that way 368,000 times, accounting for 1.2% of all hospital stays, compared with only 264,000 such discharges a decade earlier.
That 39% [...]

Video: Emergency Room Stroke Exam with a Webcam

From Wired (2008 article):
Since 2004, doctors in rural emergency rooms have been using webcams to get an expert opinion before treating stroke patients.
A report, published on Aug. 3 in The Lancet Neurology says that the new technology helps them make the right decision.
“When a person suffers a stroke, time is of the essence,” says Brett [...]

Whether It’s Really Swine Flu or Just Panic, Patients Will Come to the ED

From EM News:
Though it’s difficult to tell whether H1N1 will become a global disaster, it’s certain that emergency physicians will have to deal with it, and probably with a fair number of cases of panic disguised as swine flu.
The American College of Emergency Physicians recently released a plan to help emergency providers plan for the [...]

Sidney Health Center to search for new physician

From the Sidney (MT) Herald:
The Sidney Health Center has started the recruiting process to have another primary care provider come to its facility.
Rick Haraldson, CEO of Sidney Health Center, has confirmed that Sidney Health Center offered a contract to Dr. Shirley Noronha, but she declined to sign it because of new stipulations made by Sidney [...]

Good Old Days of EMS

From StJoeNews.com:
Ambulance service was a raucous endeavor in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
It was a time when funeral homes — which for years had provided emergency services — gave the job to privately owned ambulance companies.
As you can imagine, the competition was fierce. At the time it was even humorous, as movies such as [...]

Emergency room volunteer serves up companionship, stat!

From FtMcMurrayToday.com:
Vilia Tosio is a friend of the emergency department.
She spends a few hours a week keeping patients waiting to be treated at the Northern Lights Regional Health Centre comfortable and comforted.
“There might be the perception out there that volunteering at a hospital is not so pleasant — that it may be yucky, but it’s [...]

Wisc. Dept. Debates Paramedics vs EMTs

From JEMS:
Members of the Big Bend Vernon Fire Department presented the fire board with two medical scenarios to demonstrate the difference between basic EMT care and paramedic care at the Aug. 17 fire board meeting.
Although all of the board members stayed to hear the first presentation on EMT care, two board members got up and walked out [...]

Rural Emergency Medicine: Patient Volume and Training Opportunities

From The Journal of Emergency Medicine:
Background: A paucity of board-certified Emergency Physicians practice in rural Emergency Departments (EDs). One proposed solution has been to train residents in rural EDs to increase the likelihood that they would continue to practice in rural EDs. Some within academic Emergency Medicine question whether rural hospital EDs can provide adequate [...]