Chest compression alone effective during cardiac arrest, find studies

From MedGuru: According to the results of twin studies, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) alone is a successful method of saving heart attack victims. Researchers from University of Washington (UW) in Seattle, US and Karolinska Institute at Södersjukhuset, Sweden found in dual studies that CPR– rhythmic pressing on patients’ chest to physically pump blood through the heart–is [...]

Testing of Low-Risk Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department With Chest Pain

From Circulation: The management of low-risk patients presenting to emergency departments is a common and challenging clinical problem entailing 8 million emergency department visits annually. Although a majority of these patients do not have a life-threatening condition, the clinician must distinguish between those who require urgent treatment of a serious problem and those with more [...]

Coma Scales Evaluated

From Neurocritical Care: Numerous scoring scales have been proposed and validated to evaluate coma for rapid pre-hospital assessment and triage, disease severity, and prognosis for morbidity and mortality. These scoring systems have been predicated on core features that serve as a basis for this review and include ease of use, inter-rater reliability, reproducibility, and predictive [...]

One family grieves, another rejoices after tragic identity mix-up

From CNN: The identities of two women involved in a horrific car crash in Arizona last week were mixed up, with one family receiving news that their daughter had died when in fact she was undergoing treatment for her injuries while another family kept watch at her side for six days.

Procedural Sedation in the ED, Part I

From The Central Line: It seems the government and other specialties are trying hard to make sedation as difficult as possible in the ED. We must persevere to provide the best procedural sedation for the maximal comfort and safety for our patients. This brief lecture was originally posted on the defunct EMCrit Lecture Site on [...]

Alcohol exposure appears to increase mortality after injury

From the European Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgery: Objective: To determine the injury patterns, complications, and mortality after alcohol consumption in trauma patients. Methods: The Trauma Registry at an American College of Surgeons (ACS) level I center was queried for all patients with a toxicology screen admitted between 1st January 2002 and 31st December 2005. [...]

Medical Device Problems Hurt 70,000+ Kids Annually

From NPR: More than 70,000 children and teens go to the emergency room each year for injuries and complications from medical devices, and contact lenses are the leading culprit, the first detailed national estimate suggests. About one-fourth of the problems were things like infections and eye abrasions in contact lens wearers. These are sometimes preventable [...]

IRS Refunds $20M to Resident Physicians and Hospital

From Modern Healthcare: Nearly 1,000 former medical residents and a Cincinnati hospital will split $20 million in refunds from the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS says stipends paid to former residents from 1997 to 2005 weren’t subject to Social Security taxes because the residents were students. An attorney for University Hospital in Cincinnati says the [...]

CDC chief pushes for action to fight rising painkiller abuse

From NewsOK: Emergency room visits linked to abuse of prescription painkillers have jumped 111 percent in five years, straining the nation’s public health system, a recent study revealed. Urgent action is needed to address this health threat, Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Thursday. “Overdose with prescription [...]

“Police say patient traveled with stash”

From Online Athens: An emergency room patient faces a drug charge after he brought a bag of marijuana with him in the ambulance early Saturday morning, according to an Athens-Clarke police report. The marijuana was in a bag filled with other medications the man brought with him on the ambulance, though the report did not [...]