Emma Bourke-Matas , Emma Bosley , Karen Smith , Ben Meadley , Kelly-Ann Bowles
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引用次数: 2
Abstract
Background
The acute derangement of physiological function is a time-critical medical emergency requiring prompt recognition. As autonomous practitioners in resource scarce, high-risk environments, clinical deterioration can impose complex and increased clinical demands on paramedics. Early recognition is imperative to facilitating proactive responses to mitigate adverse effects. This study aimed to determine if clinicians can meet consensus regarding meaningful clinical factors for recognising to out-of-hospital (OOH) clinical deterioration risk.
Methods
A three-round electronic Delphi study was conducted between June 2020 and January 2021. The expert panel was composed of 30 clinicians, including paramedics and emergency physicians. Participants were presented with eight clinically diverse case vignettes addressing various clinical factors related to OOH clinical deterioration.
Results
Participants identified various challenges related to the recognition of OOH clinical deterioration. Although participants were able to meet consensus on most clinical factors related to deterioration, consensus was not achieved where cases had a combination of factors including: medical aetiology, subtle vital sign changes, non-specific complaints, age-extreme patients, and presence of co-morbidities.
Conclusions
This study demonstrated that clinicians face various challenges to recognising clinical deterioration in the OOH setting. Better understanding these challenging patient cohorts could assist to increase awareness and improve early recognition of OOH clinical deterioration.
期刊介绍:
Australasian Emergency Care is an international peer-reviewed journal dedicated to supporting emergency nurses, physicians, paramedics and other professionals in advancing the science and practice of emergency care, wherever it is delivered. As the official journal of the College of Emergency Nursing Australasia (CENA), Australasian Emergency Care is a conduit for clinical, applied, and theoretical research and knowledge that advances the science and practice of emergency care in original, innovative and challenging ways. The journal serves as a leading voice for the emergency care community, reflecting its inter-professional diversity, and the importance of collaboration and shared decision-making to achieve quality patient outcomes. It is strongly focussed on advancing the patient experience and quality of care across the emergency care continuum, spanning the pre-hospital, hospital and post-hospital settings within Australasia and beyond.