ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: As a part of the chain of survival, the emergency medical communication centre (EMCC) and the emergency medical dispatcher (EMD) has an important role in early identification of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA). The EMD may provide instructions to the caller and thereby initiate cardiopulmonary resuscitation in a substantial number of subjects and thus contribute to increased survival. The EMCC provides a response with first responders, ambulances, physician manned units and potentially other health care providers. EMCC in many cases initiates the communication with experts in the referral hospital and provide added value to the post resuscitation care by providing advanced transport, logistics and follow up. In research there is a growing focus on the EMCC/EMDs impact on survival in OHCA. The lack of standards in reporting results from medical dispatching is an obstacle for thorough evaluation of results in this area and comparison of data. The objective for this paper is to introduce a framework for uniform reporting of the dispatching process for quality improvement, collecting and reporting data and exchanging information regarding OHCA.
Subject(s)
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation/methods , Emergency Medical Service Communication Systems/standards , Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest/diagnosis , Quality Improvement , Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation/standards , Humans , Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest/therapyABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To establish a uniform framework describing the system and organisation of emergency medical response centres and the process of emergency medical dispatching (EMD) when reporting results from studies in emergency medicine and prehospital care. DESIGN AND RESULTS: In September 2005 a task force of 22 experts from 12 countries met in Stavanger; Norway at the Utstein Abbey to review data and establish a common terminology for medical dispatch centres including core and optional data to be used for health monitoring, benchmarking and future research.
Subject(s)
Emergency Medical Service Communication Systems/organization & administration , Emergency Medicine , Guidelines as Topic , Health Services Research/organization & administration , Humans , Research DesignABSTRACT
Cancer patients with spinal cord compression may develop irreversible neurological deficit. The clinical picture implies back pain and subsequent neurological deficit. There is always a danger of rapid deterioration of the patient's condition. If spinal cord compression is suspected, the case is an emergency. MRI should be preferred in the diagnostic work-up, and corticosteroids be administered promptly. Radiation therapy or surgical treatment should be started as soon as possible. Patient outcome is related to the degree of neurological deficit at the start of treatment.
Subject(s)
Medulla Oblongata , Neoplasm Metastasis , Spinal Cord Compression/etiology , Combined Modality Therapy , Diagnosis, Differential , Glucocorticoids/administration & dosage , Humans , Laminectomy , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Medulla Oblongata/pathology , Prognosis , Radiotherapy Dosage , Spinal Cord Compression/pathology , Spinal Cord Compression/therapyABSTRACT
The authors have studied the type and frequency of cases of wife-battering attending an emergency outpatient clinic in Trondheim, Norway. Most patients were between 20 and 30 years old. They had multiple traumas, with a predominance of traumas near the head and neck region. Almost half (44%) of the abusers were unemployed, and most of them were 30-40 years old. Alcohol was reported as an important precipitating factor by 75% of the victims. Comparison with a corresponding study carried out ten years ago shows that the frequency of wife-battering seems to be almost unchanged.
Subject(s)
Spouse Abuse , Adult , Aged , Alcohol Drinking , Female , Humans , Male , Marriage , Middle Aged , Norway/epidemiology , Prospective Studies , Spouse Abuse/diagnosis , Spouse Abuse/epidemiology , Spouse Abuse/etiology , Wounds and Injuries/diagnosis , Wounds and Injuries/epidemiology , Wounds and Injuries/etiologyABSTRACT
This is a retrospective study of alcohol-related admittances to the medical department of Molde District Hospital. All cases with certain diagnoses where alcohol is mentioned as a possible cause were recorded, and compared with a reference group of matched, non-alcohol-related cases. During the period 1980-86, 228 patients were admitted 350 times to the medical wards of the hospital. These patients had a significantly higher number of admittances than the reference patients, both to the medical ward and to other wards. They also had a higher frequency of emergency admittances. The average age of patients admitted for alcohol-related causes was much lower than that of the general patient population. The relative number of recorded alcohol-related admittances to the medical ward increased over the seven year period, from 3.8 to 5.5% for men and from 0.7 to 1.6% for women.
