Direct vs Video Laryngoscopy for Difficult Airway Patients in the Emergency Department: A National Emergency Airway Registry Study.

INTRODUCTION: Previous studies suggest improved intubation success using video laryngoscopy (VL) vs direct laryngoscopy (DL), yet recent randomized trials have not shown clear benefit of one method over the other. These studies, however, have generally excluded difficult airways and rapid sequence intubation. In this study we looked to compare first-pass success (FPS) rates between VL and DL in adult emergency department (ED) patients with difficult airways. METHODS: We conducted a secondary analysis of prospectively collected observational data in the National Emergency Airway Registry (NEAR) (January 2016-December 2018). Variables included demographics, indications, methods, medications, devices, difficult airway characteristics, success, and adverse events. We included adult ED patients intubated with VL or DL who had difficult airways identified by gestalt or anatomic predictors. We stratified VL by hyperangulated (HAVL) vs standard geometry VL (SGVL). The primary outcome was FPS, and the secondary outcome was comparison of adverse event rates between groups. Data analyses included descriptive statistics with cluster-adjusted 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: Of 18,123 total intubations, 12,853 had a predicted or identified anatomically difficult airway. The FPS for difficult airways was 89.1% (95% CI 85.9-92.3) with VL and 77.7% (95% CI 75.7-79.7) with DL (P <0.00001). The FPS rates were similar between VL subtypes for all difficult airway characteristics except airways with blood or vomit, where SGVL FPS (87.3%; 95% CI 85.8-88.8) was slightly better than HAVL FPS (82.4%; 95% CI, 80.3-84.4). Adverse event rates were similar except for esophageal intubations and vomiting, which were both less common in VL than DL. Esophageal intubations occurred in 0.4% (95% CI 0.1-0.7) of VL attempts and 1.5% (95% CI 1.1-1.9) of DL attempts. Vomiting occurred in 0.6% (95% CI 0.5-0.7) of VL attempts and 1.4% (95% CI 0.9-1.9) of DL attempts. CONCLUSION: Analysis of the NEAR database demonstrates higher first-pass success with VL compared to DL in patients with predicted or anatomically difficult airways, and reduced rate of esophageal intubations and vomiting.

Medical Control Decisions: When Does a Neonate Become a Separate Patient?

Patient refusal for care or transport is a common request to medical control physicians, and it is an especially challenging decision in the case of minors. Parents or guardians are able to refuse medical care for a minor if there is not an imminent threat of harm to the minor. However, if a minor patient is presumed to be in need of emergent medical care to prevent harm, medical personnel have the right to treat the minor, even if the parent or guardian objects. If the minor patient is a fetus or a neonate, it is not always clear when they are considered to be a separate patient. Apparently, there is no over-riding general rule or law and, consequently, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) protocols vary greatly from state to state. This case report describes one patient case that involved some of these unclear legal areas and how it fit with local EMS protocols. The legal question arose when a pregnant patient delivered her baby, but the umbilical cord was not cut. Are the mother's rights violated by cutting the umbilical cord if she objects to the procedure? How is the medical control physician to decide when to go beyond established EMS protocols to ensure that the safest and most ethical care is provided to a patient in the field? Does the care of the infant or the mother take precedence? Continued analyses of cases are required to ensure that protocols and guidelines are protecting both patients and providers.Venegas A, Ann Maggiore W, Wells R, Baker R, Watts S. Medical control decisions: when does a neonate become a separate patient? Prehosp Disaster Med. 2019;34(2):224-225.

Electronic Health Record Documentation Times among Emergency Medicine Trainees.

Physicians spend a large portion of their time documenting patient encounters using electronic health records (EHRs). Meaningful Use guidelines have made EHR systems widespread, but they have not been shown to save time. This study compared the time required to complete an emergency department note in two different EHR systems for three separate video-recorded standardized simulated patient encounters. The total time needed to complete documentation, including the time to write and order the initial history, physical exam, and diagnostic studies, and the time to provide medical decision making and disposition, were recorded and compared by trainee across training levels. The only significant difference in documentation time was by classification, with second- and third-year trainees being significantly faster in documenting on the Cerner system than fourth-year medical student and first-year trainees (F = 8.36, p < .001). Level of training and experience with a system affected documentation time.

Sensitivity of a bedside reagent strip for the detection of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in ED patients with ascites.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine the sensitivity of a highly sensitive bedside leukocyte esterase reagent strip (RS) for detection of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) in emergency department (ED) ascites patients undergoing paracentesis. METHODS: We conducted a prospective, observational cohort study of ED ascites patients undergoing paracentesis at two academic facilities. Two practitioners, blinded to each other's results, did a bedside RS analysis of the peritoneal fluid in each patient and documented the RS reading at 3-min according to manufacturer-specified colorimetric strip reading as either "negative", "trace", "small", or "large". The primary outcome measure was sensitivity of the RS strip for SBP (absolute neutrophil count ≥ 250 cells/mm3) at the "trace" threshold (positive equals trace or greater). RESULTS: There were 330 cases enrolled, with 635 fluid analyses performed. Of these, 40 fluid samples had SBP (6%). Bedside RS had a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of 95% (95% CI 82%-99%), 48% (95% CI 44%-52%), 11% (95% CI 10%-11%), and 99% (95% CI 97%-99%) respectively at the "trace" threshold for the detection of SBP. CONCLUSION: Bedside use of the RS in ED ascites patients demonstrated high sensitivity for SBP. Given the wide confidence intervals, we cannot currently recommend it as a stand-alone test. We recommend further study with a larger number of SBP patients, potentially combining a negative RS result with low clinical suspicion to effectively rule out SBP without formal laboratory analysis.

Virtual Reality as an Interview Technique in Evaluation of Emergency Medicine Applicants.

NEED FOR INNOVATION: Current interviewing strategies and the standardized letter of evaluation may not provide enough insight into preferred resident characteristics. Emergency medicine (EM) residency programs are challenged with identifying trainees who can problem solve, communicate, and work well with fellow health professionals. BACKGROUND: Structured interviews have previously been used and can help predict success but candidates have reported a negative impression with their use. OBJECTIVE OF INNOVATION: This structured virtual reality (VR) interviewing method was designed so that interviewers can observe the communication abilities, subtle personality traits, and teamwork skills of applicants interviewed at an EM residency program. DEVELOPMENT PROCESS: A consumer VR headset became available and in combination with an interactive team game was incorporated into a standardized team-based interview session. This session was designed to allow observation of candidates' communication, problem solving, and teamwork skills. IMPLEMENTATION PHASE: Surveys were collected to examine the satisfaction of EM residency applicants who participated in this novel standardized interviewing method using a VR headset. After the submission of rank lists, but prior to Match Day, those who interviewed were e-mailed a voluntary, anonymous, and confidential survey asking about their interview experience, specifically about the VR portion. The survey was sent to 102 applicants with 63 responses for a 62% response rate at the completion of the 2015 to 2016 interview season. OUTCOMES: Overall study findings suggested that participants had a highly favorable impression of the VR portion of the interview. Specifically, participants reported that this interview technique was appropriate and worthwhile. Additionally, participants attested that the Oculus portion of the interview gave insight to their work ethic, personality, and communication skills and how they work with others. REFLECTIVE DISCUSSION: The novel interviewing method used in this study allowed interviewers to gain insight beyond that of the paperwork and brief face-to-face interaction. Study findings suggest that interviewees accepted the use of this novel interview method. It has been incorporated into our interview process for three consecutive years.

Mass casualty incidents and B-Con training.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine if providing mass casualty training, utilizing the Bleeding Control for the Injured (B-Con) course would allow participants to feel more confident to provide bystander aid to wounded victims in a mass casualty incident (MCI). DESIGN: Quasi-experimental pre-post intervention study. SETTING: Participants were healthcare providers attending a trauma research conference hosted by a medical university. INTERVENTIONS: Participants were given a group lecture in each of the three B-Con skill areas. These include: bleeding control with a tourniquet, bleeding control with gauze, and airway control with a jaw thrust. Participants were then divided into three groups and practiced each skill with instruction from B-Con certified trainers. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES: The primary outcome was scores from pre- to post-intervention in the categories of self-efficacy, perceived benefit, perceived susceptibility, perceived barriers, and perceived severity related to involvement in an MCI. RESULTS: The study included 67 participants, all identifying as medical providers. Means in the categories of self-efficacy, perceived benefit, perceived susceptibility, perceived barriers, and perceived severity significantly increased from pre-intervention to post-intervention among the paired variables. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates the effectiveness of B-Con training in improving the confidence of participants. By increasing the number of persons who are trained for an MCI, there will be an increased probability that triage and immediate care will be rendered when needed. Future research needs to be completed evaluating the effect of training on a layperson study sample.