Emergency treatment by older surgeons linked to slightly lower death rates

BMJ: Patients undergoing emergency surgery who are treated by older surgeons (aged 60 or over) have slightly lower death rates in the first few weeks after their operation than patients treated by younger surgeons (aged less than 40) within the same hospital, finds US study published by The BMJ today. There was no evidence that death rates differ between male and female surgeons.

If the results are causal, the researchers say that for every 333 of these patients who undergo surgery in the US, one fewer death would occur if quality of care was the same between younger and older surgeons.

CPR Training Less Common among Older Adults, Who May be at Highest Risk of Sudden Cardiac Arrest

Pennsylvania: More than 350,000 Americans suffer from out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) each year. It strikes at work, in the grocery store, on the soccer field, and even at home, where it’s critical for bystanders to take quick action by performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). But only 32 percent of cardiac arrest victims nationwide receive the lifesaving intervention. New research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania sheds light on training gaps that could pave the way to boosting the number of people who are prepared to jump into action.

How Twitter Can Help Predict Emergency-Room Visits

Arizona: A UA-led team of researchers created a model that was able to predict with 75 percent accuracy how many asthma-related emergency room visits a hospital could expect on a given day. Twitter users who post information about their personal health online might be considered by some to be "over-sharers," but new research led by the University of Arizona suggests that health-related tweets may have the potential to be helpful for hospitals.

Stroke care within the first critical 60 minutes

NIH: Time is critical when it comes to stroke, and early treatment is associated with better outcomes. According to the Screening with MRI for Accurate and Rapid stroke Treatment (SMART) study, small changes in quality improvement procedures enabled clinicians to use MRI scans to diagnose stroke patients before giving acute treatment, within 60 minutes of hospital arrival. MRI scans provide detailed images but take longer to complete than CT scans, which are commonly used in most centers.

Emergency Room regulars twice as likely to die

Scimex: Frequent users of emergency care are more than twice as likely as infrequent users to die, be admitted to hospital, or require other outpatient treatment, concludes an analysis of the available evidence. The available evidence suggests that frequent users account for up to one in 12 patients seeking emergency department care, and for around one in four of all visits. Among the seven studies looking at deaths, the analysis showed that frequent attenders at emergency care departments were more than twice as likely to die as those who rarely sought emergency care.

New tool optimises positioning of emergency vehicles

Bochum: Where and when should emergency ambulances be positioned within a city to ensure that all locations across the urban area will be reached in good time? Economists are helping to solve this complicated question with IT-based decision support. Once the fire department’s control room receives an emergency call, every second counts: only eight to ten minutes are permitted to pass before the emergency services have to arrive on scene and launch rescue operations, no matter what the day of the week, what time of day or night, no matter if there is heavy traffic, no matter if it’s in the middle of the city or in remote outskirts. Keeping within this so-called response time is a challenge for emergency service planners, especially since monies are scarce and the number of rescue operations is on the increase. Approximately 23,000 rescue operations per annum have been served by Bochum’s 13 emergency vehicles in the recent years. Due to the rise in numbers of older people, the frequency of emergency calls is growing.

Cloth masks – dangerous to your health?

UNSW: The use of cloth masks by healthcare workers may actually put them at increased risk of respiratory illness and viral infections compared to medical masks, and their global use should be discouraged, according to a UNSW study. The results of the first randomised clinical trial to study the efficacy of cloth masks were published today in the journal BMJ Open. The study found respiratory infection was much higher among healthcare workers wearing cloth masks. The penetration of cloth masks by particles was almost 97% compared to medical masks with 44%.

Effects of interventions to reduce waiting times for non-urgent health procedures

Cochrane: Long waiting times for non-urgent procedures are common in public healthcare systems, where care is provided free of charge and supply is limited by budget constraints. This may cause distress among patients as well as adverse health consequences.

Cross-border intensive care medicine

Frankfurt University. Germany: Anyone who becomes seriously ill or has an accident while on holiday would like to be treated as well as they are at home. It is vitally important for the patient that the doctor has been well trained, in particular in intensive care medicine.

Resuscitation for more than 30 minutes in young people after drowning is medically futile

Groningen University. Netherlands: In medical terms, resuscitation for more than 30 minutes in children after drownings is futile if they have suffered cardiac arrest in combination with hypothermia. This is the conclusion of an in-depth study headed by paediatric intensivist Joke Kieboom from the University Medical Center Groningen. Although lengthy resuscitation did restore cardiac function, 90% of the children died, most of them within a few days. The remaining children survived in a vegetative state or suffered serious brain damage. Kieboom would like to see changes to the medical guidelines in this area. Her research is published in today’s edition of the British Medical Journal.

A clearer picture: Predicting disability and death after the ICU

Yale University. US: A growing number of older adults are surviving visits to hospital intensive care units (ICUs), but many emerge with disabilities such as impaired walking and poor overall function. A new study by Yale School of Medicine researchers shows that the level of disability the year before an ICU visit can predict post-ICU disability and death.

Indianapolis life sciences company advances technology to improve blood volume measurements in critical care

Purdue University. US: FAST BioMedical Inc. announces the conclusion of a Phase II clinical trial for a technology designed to provide timely, precise and convenient plasma volume and kidney function measurements. This is especially useful for patients undergoing major surgery and for the critically ill. "The technology could allow physicians to determine plasma volume and kidney function more precisely and timely than the current standards of care," said Joe Muldoon, FAST BioMedical CEO. "Primary market research shows us that this could be a substantial game changer in critical care."

Depth and rate of chest compressions during CPR impact survival in cardiac arrest

UTSW. US: The depth of chest compressions and the rate at which they were applied make a significant impact on survival and recovery of patients, a review of research by UT Southwestern Medical Center Emergency Medicine physicians shows.

Old and wise: emergency preparedness isn't a checklist

University of Adelaide. Australia: A University of Adelaide researcher has for the first time revealed how prepared older South Australians feel when it comes to emergency events. Dr Victoria Cornell says older people are often categorised as a ‘vulnerable’ group in emergency management; however, her research found the elderly actually have a wealth of knowledge and experience when it comes to emergency events, and they can be highly resilient.

Urgent Care Versus the ER? Johns Hopkins Pediatrican Offers Tips on Making the Right Choice

Johns Hopkins. University. US: It’s Friday afternoon and your 20-month-old son is running a fever. He is cranky, refuses to eat, periodically pulls on his ears, and isn’t his usual playful self.

Your reaction is:

a.    No big deal. You call your pediatrician’s office and ask for an appointment the following week.

b.    Dreading a fever-induced seizure — it happened to the child of a friend’s friend — you rush to the nearest emergency room.

c.    Head to an urgent care center, such as Patient First.

Johns Hopkins Study Finds Early Physical Rehabilitation in the ICU Leads to Better Patient Outcomes

Johns Hopkins. US: Novel early physical therapy interventions in the intensive care unit sustained 5 years beyond inception via structured quality improvement process

Timely initiation of physical therapy in intensive care unit improved outcomes via quality improvement processes. Study suggests culture change is sustainable over time and improves quality care. With education, guidelines and removal of barriers, quality improvement can actually work and last, study finds.

Innate behaviour determines how we steer our car

Chalmers University. Sweden: Researchers at Chalmers have solved a 70 year old mystery in traffic research: an until now inexplicable jerkiness when we steer a vehicle. The discovery may lead to safety systems in cars that can correct dangerous steering movements before they occur.

The ability to predict what a driver is going to do in the near future and to be able to prepare the car's system for this sounds a little bit like science fiction, and it would naturally be a dream come true for the safety departments at car manufacturers. The dream is now one step closer to becoming reality.

Stroke

A stroke damages part of the brain because the blood flow is interrupted. The medical term for stroke is apoplexy. A stroke can have many different consequences.