European Journal of Emergency Medicine最新文献

Background and importance: There seems to be evidence of gender and ethnic bias in the early management of acute coronary syndrome. However, whether these differences are related to less severe severity assessment or to less intensive management despite the same severity assessment has not yet been established.

Objective: To show whether viewing an image with characters of different gender appearance or ethnic background changes the prioritization decision in the emergency triage area.

Methods: The responders were offered a standardized clinical case in an emergency triage area. The associated image was randomized among eight standardized images of people presenting with chest pain and differing in gender and ethnic appearance (White, Black, North African and southeast Asian appearance).

Outcome measures and analysis: Each person was asked to respond to a single clinical case, in which the priority level [from 1 (requiring immediate treatment) to 5 (able to wait up to 2 h)] was assessed visually. Priority classes 1 and 2 for vital emergencies and classes 3-5 for nonvital emergencies were grouped together for analysis.

Results: Among the 1563 respondents [mean age, 36 ± 10 years; 867 (55%) women], 777 (50%) were emergency physicians, 180 (11%) emergency medicine residents and 606 (39%) nurses. The priority levels for all responses were 1-5 : 180 (11%), 686 (44%), 539 (34%), 131 (9%) and 27 (2%). There was a higher reported priority in male compared to female [62% vs. 49%, difference 13% (95% confidence interval; CI 8-18%)]. Compared to White people, there was a lower reported priority for Black simulated patients [47% vs. 58%, difference -11% (95% CI -18% to -4%)] but not people of southeast Asian [55% vs. 58%, difference -3% (95% CI -10-5%)] and North African [61% vs. 58%, difference 3% (95% CI -4-10%)] appearance.

Conclusion: In this study, the visualization of simulated patients with different characteristics modified the prioritization decision. Compared to White patients, Black patients were less likely to receive emergency treatment. The same was true for women compared with men.

Background and importance: Trauma is a major cause of mortality and morbidity. Regional trauma systems are the cornerstones of healthcare systems, helping to improve outcomes and avoid preventable deaths in severe trauma patients.

Objectives: The goal of this study was to evaluate the association between compliance with the guidelines of a regional trauma management system and survival at 28 days of severe trauma patients.

Design, settings and participants: We conducted a retrospective observational study from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019. All adult patients admitted for trauma at the University Hospital of Marseille (France) and requiring a pre-hospital medical team were analysed. Compliance with a list of 30 items based on the regional guidelines for the trauma management was evaluated. Each item was classified as compliant, not compliant or not applicable. The global compliance was calculated for each patient as the ratio between the number of compliant items over the number of applicable items.

Outcome measures and analysis: The primary aim was to measure the association between compliance with the guidelines and survival at 28 days using a logistic regression. Secondary objectives were to measure the association between compliance with the guidelines and survival at 28 days and 6 months according to the severity of the patients, using a cut-off of the injury severity score at 24.

Main results: A total of 494 patients with a median age of 35.0 (25.0-50.0) years were analysed. Global compliance with guidelines was 63%. Mortality at 28 days and 6 months was assessed at 33 (6.7%) and 37 (7.5%) patients, respectively. The level of compliance was associated with reduced mortality at 28 days [odds ratio (OR) at 0.94 and 95% confidence interval (CI) at 0.89-0.98]. In the subgroup of 122 patients with an injury severity score above 23, the level of compliance was associated with reduced mortality at 28 days [OR: 0.93 (95% CI: 0.88-0.99)] and 6 months [OR: 0.93 (95% CI: 0.87-0.99)].

Conclusion: Increased levels of compliance with the guidelines in severe trauma patients were associated with an increase in survival, notably in the most severe patients.

Background: Although emergency medical service is focused on providing acute prehospital treatment, it is often used by terminally ill patients and their informal caregivers during the last days of patient's life. Little is known about why they decide to use the emergency medical services.

Study objective: The aim was to explore informal caregivers' motivation and decision-making process for calling emergency medical services for their terminally ill loved ones.

Methods: This study used a qualitative design. Data were collected by semi-structured interviews with 31 relatives of 30 patients who used the emergency medical services. Data were analyzed with NVivo software by utilizing principles of thematic analysis.

Results: Through the analysis, four distinct themes emerged: (1) limited availability of support from health care services; (2) insufficient planning of care; (3) decline in the health of the patient and (4) being lost and desperate.

Conclusion: For informal caregivers, emergency medical services represented an important source of support while caring for their terminally ill loved ones due to the limited availability of other sources of help, including a lack of specialist palliative care providers. Additionally, informal caregivers had limited knowledge of the dying process and used emergency medical services for professional advice.