Characteristics of surfers as bystander rescuers in Europe.

INTRODUCTION: Coastal locations contribute significantly to global drowning, with surfers frequently conducting rescues. This study explored the characteristics of surfers as bystander rescuers in Europe. METHODS: A cross-sectional online survey collected demographics (age, sex, geographical location), surfing experience, ability, lifesaving and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training, information seeking behaviors and previous performance of a rescue. Analyses comprised descriptive frequencies, binomial logistic regression with adjusted odds ratio (AOR) (95% confidence interval [CI]) and chi-squares (p < .05). RESULTS: Europe-dwelling respondents totaled 1705 (76% male; 43% 25-34 years). Thirty-nine percent (39.2%; n = 668) had previously performed a rescue. Likelihood of having conducted a rescue significantly increased with 6 or more years of surfing experience (6-10 years [AOR = 1.96; 95%CI: 1.20-3.22]; 11-15 years [AOR = 3.26; 95%CI: 1.56-6.79]; 16 years or more [AOR = 4.27; 95%CI: 2.00-9.11]) when compared to surfers with <1 year experience. Expert/professional ability surfers were 10.89 times (95%CI: 4.72-25.15) more likely to have conducted a rescue than novice/beginners. Respondents who had received both a certified lifeguard and CPR course were significantly more likely to have conducted a rescue (AOR = 3.34; 95%CI: 2.43-4.60). CONCLUSION: Surfers who had previously conducted rescues commonly had more years of experience, higher self-rated surf ability and greater likelihood of having received certified training. However, not all surfers who have performed rescues had received training. Findings suggest surfers should receive rescue and CPR training before they start surfing at locations without trained supervision and refresh training regularly. Surfers are amenable to injury prevention information, especially online and via apps.

The epidemiology, risk factors and impact of exposure on unintentional surfer and bodyboarder deaths.

Surfing and bodyboarding (SAB) are popular activities, but not without risk. Limited SAB mortality and exposure risk explorations exist, so this cross-sectional study explores epidemiology and risk factors for SAB deaths (1 July, 2004-30 June,2020) in Australia: including decedent and incident profiles, causes of death, differences between fatalities during SAB and other coastal activities; and the impact of exposure on SAB mortality risk. Fatality data were sourced from the National Coronial Information System, incident and media reports. Tide-state data, population data and participation data were sourced from relevant authorities. Analyses included chi-square testing and simple logistic regression with odds ratios. There were 155 SAB deaths (80.6% surfing; 96.1% male; 36.8% aged 55+years; 0.04/100,000 residents; 0.63/100,000 surfers). Drowning was the most common cause of death (58.1%; n = 90), but higher in bodyboarding, with bodyboarders 4.62 times more likely to drown than surfers (95%CI: 1.66-12.82; p = 0.003). Almost half (44.5%; n = 69; χ22 = 9.802; p = 0.007) were with friends/family, and the largest proportion occurred during a rising tide (41.3%; n = 64; χ23 = 180.627; p<0.001) followed by a low tide (36.8%;n = 57). Australians surf 45.7 times each year, for 1.88 hours each visit equalling 86.1 'exposed' hours. With exposure-time considered, exposure-adjusted surfer mortality rate (0.06/1 million hours) is lower than other in-water activities (0.11/1 million hours). Younger surfers (14-34 years) surfed more yet had the lowest mortality rate (114.5 hours/year; 0.02/1 million hours). Older surfers (55+ years) had a lower SAB mortality rate (0.052) than the all-cause crude mortality rate of their average population counterparts (1.36). Cardiac conditions were identified in 32.9% (n = 69) of SAB deaths. SAB are relatively safe, with lower exposure mortality rates than other activities. Prevention should target older surfers, inland residents, and identification of surfers with risk factors for cardiac events.

Ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials: frequency tuning to air-conducted acoustic stimuli in healthy subjects and Ménière's disease.

Ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (oVEMP) in response to 250-, 500- and 1000-Hz air-conducted short tone bursts were studied in 22 healthy subjects and 37 Ménière's disease patients. The goal of this study was to investigate normal tuning characteristics of the oVEMP and the possible oVEMP changes with respect to frequency dependence in Ménière's disease. In unilateral Ménière's disease patients, a distinction was made between affected ears and unaffected ears. It was found that in normal subjects, the oVEMP tunes to a stimulus frequency of 500 Hz, with the highest amplitude and lowest threshold at this particular frequency. Generally, Ménière's disease patients showed lower amplitudes and higher thresholds than normal subjects at all 3 stimulus frequencies in both the affected and the unaffected ear. Additionally, for ears affected by Ménière's disease, the best stimulus frequency was 1000 Hz. With the use of this altered tuning for these ears, we tried to find a criterion for distinguishing normal from Ménière's disease ears.

A Systemic Review on the Diagnostic Accuracy of Point-of-Care Ultrasound in Patients With Undifferentiated Shock in the Emergency Department.

Early identification of the shock type and correct diagnosis is associated with better outcomes. Previous studies have suggested that point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) increases the diagnostic accuracy of patients in undifferentiated shock. However, a complete overview of the diagnostic accuracy of POCUS and the related treatment changes when compared to standard care is still limited. Our objective was to compare POCUS against standard practice regarding the diagnostic accuracy and specific therapeutic management changes (fluid volume administration and vasopressor use) in patients with undifferentiated shock in the emergency department (ED). We conducted a systematic review in concordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. A systematic search was performed using Embase, PubMed, Cochrane Central Register for Controlled Trials, and clinicaltrials.gov. Two physicians independently selected the articles and assessed the quality of the studies independently with the Quadas-2 tool. All included studies used POCUS in adult patients in undifferentiated shock and described diagnostic accuracy or specific therapeutic management changes (fluid volume administration or vasopressor use) and compared this to standard care. The primary outcome was diagnostic accuracy. Secondary outcomes were the amount of fluid administered and vasopressor use in the ED. Only articles published after 1996 were included. There were 10,805 articles found of which 6 articles were included. Four out of six studies reported diagnostic accuracy, three reported on fluid administration and vasopressors. We found that the diagnostic accuracy improved through the use of POCUS when compared to the standard care group, increasing overall diagnostic accuracy from 45-60% to 80-89% when combined with clinical information. There was no significant difference in fluid administration or vasopressor use between the groups. In our systematic review, we found that the use of POCUS in patients that presented with undifferentiated shock in the ED improved the diagnostic accuracy of the shock type and final diagnosis. POCUS resulted in no changes in fluid administration or vasopressor use when compared to standard care. However, the results should be interpreted within the limitations of some of the studies that were included in the review.

Concomitant pulmonary embolism and upper limb ischaemia as a first presentation of a patent foramen ovale.

A 78-year-old female patient presented to the emergency department with syncope and dyspnoea. The left arm appeared to be cold and radial pulse was not palpable. A CT scan of the chest and left arm with intravenous contrast displayed bilateral central pulmonary embolisms in combination with a left subclavian artery embolism and an atrial septal aneurysm. Transthoracic echocardiography identified a patent foramen ovale with right-to-left shunting confirming the diagnosis of paradoxical embolism. The patient was treated with anticoagulants. In a patient presenting with a combination of a pulmonary embolism and a peripheral arterial embolism, the clinician should consider a right-to-left shunt with paradoxical embolism. In line with this, when diagnosing a peripheral arterial embolism, a central venous origin should be considered. Furthermore, when diagnosing a pulmonary embolism or other forms of venous thromboembolism, the clinician should be aware of signs of a peripheral arterial embolism.