Florida Man Assaults Crew with Bloody Limb

From JEMS: Deputies said Cockefur wailed his hand around on purpose causing blood to fly around. They say Cockefur did not cooperate and continued to be combative. He yanked out the stitches to his hand.

No Wait E.R.

From WYTV: When you go to an emergency room, waiting is usually part of the process, but officials say that is not the case at one Eastern Kentucky hospital. St. Joseph Martin in Floyd County now has a no wait emergency room. Waiting is almost always an issue in most emergency rooms. “If you’re sick [...]

“GE Show”: Healthy Hospital episode focuses on the ED

From GE: Got four hours to spare? Not many of us do. Our days are already crammed with work and personal responsibilities. We’re on the go, and time is precious. Yet four hours is the time we spend for an average emergency department visit. And much of that time is spent waiting for a doctor, [...]

Is Advanced Life Support better than Basic Life Support in prehospital care?

From the Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine: Prehospital care is classified into ALS- (advanced life support) and BLS- (basic life support) levels according to the methods used. ALS-level prehospital care uses invasive methods, such as intravenous fluids, medications and intubation. However, the effectiveness of ALS care compared to BLS has been questionable. Aim [...]

Rescuers Remove Accident Victim From Tree

From JEMS: Rescue crews had to use ropes and ladders to retrieve a western Pennsylvania woman from her pickup truck after it ran off a road and landed in tree tops about 30 feet above ground in a ravine. From the Post-Gazette: Firefighters used a ladder truck and ropes this morning to rescue a woman [...]

ER billings from urgent care clinic draws complaints

From the Journal Sentinel: Wheaton Franciscan officials said their urgent care center offers services beyond normal urgent care clinics, including around-the-clock availability. “There’s no general consistent definition of urgent care. Ours is more like an emergency department,” said Coreen Dicus-Johnson, senior vice president of physician and revenue operations. However, no ambulances take patients to the [...]

Problems with Adenosine and Amiodarone Syringes and Needleless Ports

From MedPage Today: The FDA is alerting healthcare professionals about potential problems with prefilled, needleless glass syringes used to deliver adenosine or amiodarone in patients with cardiac arrhythmias. Some of these syringes appear to be incompatible with certain needleless intravenous access systems, the agency said, causing the syringes to break, malfunction, or become clogged while [...]

Another Children’s Treasury Of Bizarre Injuries

From Deadspin: Last year, we brought you some highlights from the Sun-Sentinel’s database of emergency room visits. They’ve updated it for the holidays, so we’ve picked it through for some of the stranger hospitalizations. Two favorites: FIRECRACKER BACKFIRED, LIT TWIRLY OBJECT FM BACKFIRED FIRECRACKER UP NOSE. L NARE MUCOSAL BURN 1ST DEGREE DUE TO FIREWORKS.TYPE R, and [...]

12-Leads from the Field

From the Pilot Online: In an effort to save more lives, the city’s paramedics are using technology to send information to doctors about heart attack patients. It’s part of a push to enhance patients’ treatment before they arrive at medical facilities. Norfolk Fire-Rescue joined Virginia Beach and other agencies in Hampton Roads in upgrading defibrillators [...]

McKesson and ENA launch emergency department comparison service

From BJHC & IM: McKesson and the US Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) have launched a web-based subscription service, ED Benchmarks Collaborative, that enables hospital leaders to identify trends and compare their emergency department (ED) performance with similar organisations. In addition, the service helps hospitals improve capacity management and drive positive clinical and financial outcomes. ED [...]