Paramedic streaming upon arrival in emergency department: A prospective study.

OBJECTIVE: The role of paramedics in hospital triage or streaming models has not been adequately explored and is potentially a missed opportunity for enhanced patient flow. The aim of the present study was to assess the concordance between a streaming decision by paramedics with the decision by nurses after arrival to the ED. METHODS: A prospective observational study was conducted. Paramedics were met at the entrance to the hospital and asked which destination they thought was appropriate (the index test). The ED nurse streaming decision was the reference standard. Cases of discordance were reviewed and assessed for clinical risk by an independent expert panel that was blinded. RESULTS: We collected data from 500 cases that were transported by ambulance consisting of 55% males with a median age of 57 years (interquartile range 38-75). The overall concordance between paramedics' and streaming decision was 86.4% (95% confidence interval 83.1-89.1). The concordance was highest among patients streamed to resuscitation and general cubicles. Among discordant cases (n = 68), 39 were streamed to a more acute destination than the paramedic suggested. Of the 68 discordant cases, 56 were deemed to be of no clinical risk. CONCLUSIONS: Despite limited knowledge of patient load within the ED, paramedics can allocate a streaming destination with high accuracy and this appears to be associated with low clinical risks. Early pre-hospital notification of streaming destination with proactive allocation of ED destination presents a real opportunity to minimise off-load times and improve patient flow.

Review article: Pre-hospital provider clinical judgement upon arrival to the emergency department: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Pre-hospital providers (PHPs) undertake initial patient assessment, often spending considerable time with patients prior to arrival at ED. However, continuity of this assessment with ongoing care of patients in the ED is limited, with repeated assessment in the ED, starting with the process of triage in hospital. A systematic review of the literature was conducted to assess the ability of PHPs to predict patient outcomes in the ED. Manuscripts were screened and were eligible for inclusion if they included patients transported by non-physician PHPs to the ED and assessed ability of PHPs to predict triage scores, clinical course, treatment requirements or disposition from ED. The initial search returned 10 753 unique articles. After screening and full text review, 10 studies were included in data analysis. Of these, six assessed prediction of disposition (admission versus discharge) from ED, two compared triage score application, one assessed prediction of clinical requirements and one assessed prediction of mortality prior to discharge. Prediction of admission across five studies had a pooled sensitivity of 0.73 (95% confidence interval 0.67-0.79) and specificity of 0.78 (95% confidence interval 0.69-0.85). Triage score application had weighted kappa variables of 0.409 and 0.452 indicating moderate agreement on assessment priority between PHPs and triage nurses. The ability of PHPs to assign triage scores, predict clinical course and predict disposition from the ED have mild concordance with clinical assessment by ED staff. This is an area of potential expansion in PHPs' role; however, training would be required prior to implementation.

Skin and soft tissue infection management failure in the emergency department observation unit: a systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: Skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) are commonly treated in ED observation units (EDOUs). The management failure rate in this setting is high, as evidenced by a large proportion of patients requiring inpatient admission. This systematic review sought to quantify the management failure rate and identify risk factors associated with management failure. METHODS: Searches of six databases and grey literature were conducted with no limits on publication year or language. Manuscripts describing patients admitted to an EDOU setting (≤24 hours planned admission to EDOU) with a primary diagnosis of cellulitis or other SSTIs were included. Variables associated with failure of management, defined as inpatient admission, stay >28 hours (4 hours in ED, 24 hours in EDOU) or death, were extracted. A narrative description of variables associated with failure of EDOU admission was conducted. RESULTS: There were 1119 unique articles identified through the literature search. Following assessment, 10 studies were included in the final systematic review, 9 of which reported the management failure rate (range 15%-38%). The presence of fever, a high total white blood cell count and known methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus exposure were the most commonly reported variables associated with management failure. CONCLUSION: A higher rate of EDOU management failure in SSTIs than the generally accepted rate of 15% was observed in most studies identified by this review. Risk factors identified were varied, but presence of a fever and elevated inflammatory markers were commonly associated with failure of EDOU admission by multiple studies. Recognition of risk factors and the increased application of clinical decision tools may help to improve disposition of patients at high risk for clinical deterioration or management failure.

Characteristics of Fixed Wing Air Ambulance Transports in Victoria, Australia.

OBJECTIVE: Air medical transport is important for the transfer of patients in the prehospital and interhospital environment. Few studies have described the services provided by fixed wing ambulances or the broader clinical profiles of patients they transport. Such information may be useful for the planning and allocation of resources, assistance with training, and refining clinical protocols. We sought to describe the characteristics of patients transported by fixed wing aircraft at Air Ambulance Victoria (AAV) and the service AAV provides in Victoria, Australia. METHODS: A retrospective data review of patients transported by AAV fixed wing aircraft between January 1, 2011, and June 30, 2015, was performed. Data were sourced from the Ambulance Victoria data warehouse. Retrievals involving physicians were excluded. RESULTS: A total of 16,579 patients were transported during the study period, with a median age of 66 years. Most patients were male (58.7%), and cardiovascular/hematologic conditions (27.2%) were most common. Overall, 51.7% of cases were prebooked routine transfers, 47.4% were interhospital routine transfers, and 0.9% were primary responses. Caseloads were largest in the regions furthest from the capital city. CONCLUSION: The AAV fixed wing service in Victoria enables regional and remote patients to be transported to definitive care without major disruption to ground ambulances.

Transfer of care and overstay in the management of cellulitis in the emergency short stay unit: A retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to quantify the rate of transfer of care or overstay from cellulitis management in the emergency short stay unit (ESSU) and to identify risk factors during initial assessment associated with transfer of care or overstay. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted including cellulitis patients diagnosed with and admitted to the ESSU at a metropolitan adult tertiary referral centre. Data abstracted included patient demographics, comorbidities, initial investigations and initial vital signs. Transfer of care or overstay were defined as inpatient admission or a stay in ESSU >28 h, respectively. RESULTS: Of the 451 included patients, 157 (34.8%) met the criteria for transfer of care or overstay. These criteria included admission to hospital inpatient units (115 patients, 73.2%) and patients who overstayed the ESSU time period (42 patients, 26.8%). Variables independently associated with transfer of care or overstay were obesity (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 4.33; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.38-15.59), i.v. drug use (adjusted OR 2.15; 95% CI 1.03-4.51), white blood cell count (adjusted OR 1.09; 95% CI 1.02-1.16 per 1 × 109 /L increase) and C-reactive protein (adjusted OR 1.004; 95% CI 1.00-1.01 per 1 mg/L increase). CONCLUSIONS: Transfer of care or overstay after admission to ESSU was high among patients with cellulitis. Variables independently associated with transfer of care or overstay were obesity, i.v. drug use, elevated white blood cell count and elevated C-reactive protein. Awareness of these variables can inform appropriate guidelines for ESSU admission, potentially improving patient flow and reducing length of stay in the ED and hospital.