[Emergency management of patients with autism spectrum disorder]. / Accueil aux urgences de patients présentant un trouble du spectre de l'autisme.

People with autism spectrum disorder visit emergency departments more frequently than the rest of the population. Their ability to communicate with their environment may not only be limited but also different from the interactions of non-autistic people. In addition, the multiple sensory stimulations present in the emergency departments are likely to make interactions, and therefore the care of patients with an autism spectrum disorder more difficult. Understanding these difficulties and the special attentions to consider will allow better care for them. This article highlights the various points of attention to be had in order to offer quality welcoming and care to patients with an autism spectrum disorder.

Les personnes avec un trouble du spectre de l'autisme sont amenées à consulter les services d'urgences plus fréquemment que le reste de la population. Leur capacité à communiquer avec leur environnement peut être non seulement limitée mais aussi différente des interactions entre personnes non autistes. En outre, les multiples stimulations sensorielles inhérentes au fonctionnement des services d'urgences sont de nature à rendre difficiles les interactions et donc les soins aux patients avec un trouble du spectre de l'autisme. Comprendre ces difficultés et les attentions particulières à considérer permet de mieux les soigner. Cet article expose les divers points auxquels faire attention afin d'offrir un accueil et des soins de qualité aux patients avec un trouble du spectre de l'autisme.

Involuntary admissions to the emergency department: a retrospective observational study.

AIMS: The main objective of this study was to describe patients who were involuntarily admitted to the emergency department of Lausanne University Hospital on involuntary admission in 2018 in terms of age, gender, emergency department length of stay, the motive for involuntary admission, use of psychoactive substances, diagnosis, and destination at emergency department discharge, with or without discontinuation of involuntary admission. METHODS: This retrospective, observational, and monocentric study included patients 18 years and older admitted to the emergency department of Lausanne University Hospital on involuntary admission from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2018. Patients were identified by the Cantonal Medical Office of Vaud. The emergency department length of stay and patient destination on discharge from the emergency department were extracted from the patient flow database, and discharge letters and involuntary admission were extracted from the electronic archiving software. Descriptive statistics were processed by using means and standard deviations for quantitative variables with a normal distribution and median and interquartile range for non-normally distributed data. RESULTS: During the study period, 83 patients were admitted on involuntary admission to the emergency department. The majority of the patients were male (58%) with a mean age of 55 (±20) years. The median emergency department length of stay of patients with an involuntary admission was between 9 and 16 hours, depending on whether the involuntary admission was confirmed or discontinued after patient assessment in the emergency department. In comparison, the median emergency department length of stay was 6 hours for patients overall. The two principal diagnoses described were psychiatric (schizophrenia) and mental and behavioural disorders due to psychoactive substance use. Half of the patients on involuntary admission consumed psychoactive substances, primarily alcohol, and had a mean ethanolaemia of 53 (±32) mmol/l. CONCLUSIONS: Only a third of patients admitted on involuntary admission saw this measure confirmed after their assessment in the emergency department. Involuntary admissions with admission to the emergency department is used to force patients to be examined by an emergency physician or even a psychiatrist. On-call and primary care physicians seemed to lack the time or resources to set up alternatives to emergency department admissions on involuntary admission, especially in situations in which the involuntary admission was discontinued after an emergency department assessment. This demonstrates the inappropriate use of this measure because a patient cannot be involuntarily hospitalised in an emergency department.

["White code protocol": model of interprofessional collaboration in the emergency room]. / « Code blanc ¼ : modèle de collaboration interprofessionnelle aux urgences.

Acute agitation is a frequent cause of emergency department's consultation. Managing an agitated patient is complex due to many factors and require from healthcare teams a close interdisciplinary collaboration. Scope of this article is to describe the management of agitated patients in an emergency department and to present an interprofessional medical care protocol (white code protocol), giving also the opinion of principal actors of this healthcare interdisciplinary model.

L'agitation psychomotrice aiguë est fréquente dans les services d'urgences. La prise en charge d'un patient agité s'avère complexe en raison de multiples facteurs et nécessite de la part des intervenants une collaboration interdisciplinaire étroite. Cet article a pour but de synthétiser les principes de prise en charge d'une agitation aiguë dans un service d'urgences et de détailler un protocole interprofessionnel de prise en charge (code blanc), en présentant l'opinion des principaux intervenants de ce modèle interprofessionnel de soins.

Lessons from COVID-19 syndromic surveillance through emergency department activity: a prospective time series study from western Switzerland.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess if emergency department (ED) syndromic surveillance during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 outbreak could have improved our surveillance system. DESIGN AND SETTINGS: We did an observational study using aggregated data from the ED of a university hospital and public health authorities in western Switzerland. PARTICIPANTS: All patients admitted to the ED were included. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE: The main outcome was intensive care unit (ICU) occupancy. We used time series methods for ED syndromic surveillance (influenza-like syndrome, droplet isolation) and usual indicators from public health authorities (new cases, proportion of positive tests in the population). RESULTS: Based on 37 319 ED visits during the COVID-19 outbreak, 1421 ED visits (3.8%) were positive for SARS-CoV-2. Patients with influenza-like syndrome or droplet isolation in the ED showed a similar correlation to ICU occupancy as confirmed cases in the general population, with a time lag of approximately 13 days (0.73, 95% CI 0.64 to 0.80; 0.79, 95% CI 0.71 to 0.86; and 0.76, 95% CI 0.67 to 0.83, respectively). The proportion of positive tests in the population showed the best correlation with ICU occupancy (0.95, 95% CI 0.85 to 0.96). CONCLUSION: ED syndromic surveillance is an effective tool to detect and monitor a COVID-19 outbreak and to predict hospital resource needs. It would have allowed to anticipate ICU occupancy by 13 days, including significant aberration detection at the beginning of the second wave.

Basic life support knowledge among Swiss conscripts: a national multicentre survey.

BACKGROUND: Basic life support (BLS) is the first link in the chain of survival and should be performed by every lay rescuer. Although international studies have suggested that BLS knowledge was poor among the overall population, Swiss data are scarce. Our objective in this study was to evaluate BLS knowledge among Swiss conscripts, a semi-representative sample of Swiss young adults, during the recruitment process and to identify potential characteristics related to performance. METHODS: A short online voluntary anonymous survey was proposed to Swiss conscripts called to duty in the six national recruiting centres of the Swiss Armed Forces during an 8-month period (2 February 2019 to 27 September 2019). The survey was available in three official languages (French, German, and Italian). Considered outcome was BLS knowledge evaluated on a Likert scale from 1 (very bad) to 6 (excellent). Univariate and multivariate ordinal logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the relationship between BLS knowledge and participants' characteristics. RESULTS: Among the 19,247 conscripts called to service during the study period, 737 replied to the survey. Among them, 735 were included in the analyses (mean age 19.8 years [± 2.1]). Of these, 144 (20%) had never received any BLS training. The BLS knowledge survey was completely answered by 670 participants (91%). 157 participants (23%) reached a BLS knowledge score ≥5. Out of 695 answers, 142 (20%) did not know the Swiss emergency phone number. Out of 670 answers, 364 (54%) believed that CPR could worsen the health status of a person in cardiac arrest, whereas 413 (62%) agreed that BLS training should be mandatory in secondary school. German as native language (odds ratio [OR] 1.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.0-.8)], receipt of BLS training (OR 3.1, 95% CI 2.0-4.8), and female gender were associated with a higher BLS knowledge score. Time since the last BLS training of ≥3 years (OR 0.5, 95% CI 0.4-0.7) and unemployment (OR 0.3, 95% CI 0.1-0.9) were associated with a lower BLS knowledge score. We found substantial agreement between conscripts' scores and their self-assessments (weighted kappa with 74% agreement). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Knowledge of the emergency phone number and BLS principles was poor among Swiss conscripts participating in the study. However, their awareness and motivation is high. The effect of training during boot camp should be evaluated in further studies. Focusing on BLS training is essential and should be promoted in educational and professional contexts.

Self-Reported Violence Experienced by Swiss Prehospital Emergency Care Providers.

BACKGROUND: Workplace violence is a serious and increasing problem in health care. Nevertheless, only few studies were carried out concerning this topic and then mainly in English-speaking countries. The objectives were to describe the acts of violence experienced by prehospital emergency care providers (PECPs) in the western part of Switzerland between January and December 2016 and to assess the consequences for subsequent PECPs behaviors. METHODS: An observational cross-sectional study, carried out using an online survey, has been sent to all 416 PECPs in the Canton of Vaud, in the western, French-speaking, part of Switzerland. The survey contained items of demographic data and items to assess the type and consequence of violence sustained. This was classified as five types: verbal assault, intimidation, physical assault, sexual harassment, and sexual assault. RESULTS: 273 (65.6%) PECPs participated in the survey. During 2016, workplace violence was reported by 229 survey participants (83.9%). Most declared to be the victim of such violence between one and three times during the year. In all cases of violence described, the patient and/or a relative initiated aggressive behavior in 96% of cases. Verbal assaults were the most common (99.2% of all acts), followed by intimidation (72.8%), physical assault (69.6%), and sexual harassment (16.3%). Concerning physical assault, PECPs were predominantly victims of spitting and/or jostling (50%). After a violent event, in 50% of cases, the PECPs modified their behavior owing to the experience of workplace violence; 82% now wear protective vests, and 16% carry weapons for self-defense, such as pepper sprays. Seventy-five percent changed their intervention strategies, acting more carefully and using verbal de-escalation techniques or physical restraints for violent patients. CONCLUSIONS: Workplace violence is frequent and has significant consequences for PECPs. In order to increase their own security, they increased their protection. These results illustrate their feelings of insecurity, which may have deleterious effects on work satisfaction and motivation. Trial Registration. Our article does not report the results of a health care intervention on human participants.

Management of respiratory distress following prehospital implementation of noninvasive ventilation in a physician-staffed emergency medical service: a single-center retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Noninvasive ventilation (NIV) is recognized as first line ventilatory support for the management of acute pulmonary edema (APE) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations. We aimed to study the prehospital management of patients in acute respiratory distress with an indication for NIV and whether they received it or not. METHODS: This retrospective study included patients ≥18 years old who were cared for acute respiratory distress in a prehospital setting. Indications for NIV were oxygen saturation (SpO2) <90% and/or respiratory rate (RR) >25/min with a presumptive diagnosis of APE or COPD exacerbation. Study population characteristics, initial and at hospital vital signs, presumptive and definitive diagnosis were analyzed. For patients who received NIV, dyspnea level was evaluated with a dyspnea verbal ordinal scale (D-VOS, 0-10) and arterial blood gas (ABG) values were obtained at hospital arrival. RESULTS: Among the 187 consecutive patients included in the study, most (n = 105, 56%) had experienced APE or COPD exacerbation, and 56 (30%) received NIV. In comparison with patients without NIV, those treated with NIV had a higher initial RR (35 ± 8/min vs 29 ± 10/min, p < 0.0001) and a lower SpO2 (79 ± 10 vs 88 ± 11, p < 0.0001). The level of dyspnea was significantly reduced for patients treated with NIV (on-scene D-VOS 8.4 ± 1.7 vs 4.4 ± 1.8 at admission, p < 0.0001). Among the 131 patients not treated with NIV, 41 (31%) had an indication. In the latter group, initial SpO2 was 80 ± 10% in the NIV group versus 86 ± 11% in the non-NIV group (p = 0.0006). NIV was interrupted in 9 (16%) patients due to either discomfort (n = 5), technical problem (n = 2), persistent desaturation (n = 1), or vomiting (n = 1). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study contribute to a better understanding of the prehospital management of patients who present with acute respiratory distress and an indication for NIV. NIV was started on clinically more severe patients, even if predefined criteria to start NIV were present. NIV allows to improve vital signs and D-VOS in those patients. A prospective study could further elucidate why patients with a suspected diagnosis of APE and COPD are not treated with NIV, as well as the clinical impact of the different strategies. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study was approved by our institutional ethical committee ( CER-VD 2020-01363 ).

[Adult cardiopulmonary resuscitation : 2020 guidelines]. / Réanimation cardiopulmonaire de l'adulte : recommandations 2020.

Alerting emergency medical services, rapidly initiating chest compressions at the correct depth and frequency and delivering an electric shock as quickly as possible remain the key points of the updated guidelines for adult cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Following their five-year systematic review, both the American Heart Association (AHA) and the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) are reinforcing their messages in favour of simple and early actions, while adding nuances regarding drugs, and suggesting that the chain of survival should continue beyond the acute hospital phase. Here is an overview of the reminders and novelties of the AHA and ERC 2020 guidelines.

Alarmer les secours, débuter rapidement un massage cardiaque aux profondeur et fréquence correctes et délivrer un choc électrique aussi vite que possible restent les points clés des recommandations actualisées de la réanimation cardiopulmonaire de l'adulte. À l'issue de leur démarche de revue méthodique quinquennale, tant l'American Heart Association (AHA) que l'European Resuscitation Council (ERC) renforcent leurs messages en faveur de gestes simples et précoces, tout en apportant des nuances quant aux médicaments, et proposent de poursuivre la chaîne de survie au-delà de la phase aiguë hospitalière. Tour d'horizon des rappels et des nouveautés des recommandations de l'AHA et de l'ERC 2020.

Smart watch recording of ventricular tachycardia: Case study.

Smartphones and connected devices allow patients to monitor their health in a variety of ways. We report the case of a patient presenting to the emergency department complaining of palpitations and syncope. Standard investigations were unremarkable. However, an electrocardiogram recorded through his Apple Watch® indicated ventricular tachycardia. This case highlights the importance of proactively requesting such information from patients, though normal recordings may not preclude cardiac arrhythmia. Controlled clinical studies are needed to validate such practices.

[Asthmatic exacerbation in pregnant woman]. / Exacerbation asthmatique chez la femme enceinte.

The physiological changes in the pregnant woman expose her to a risk of faster respiratory decompensation. Asthma affects 2-13% of pregnancies. It is therefore important to ensure regular monitoring to allow good control of asthma to reduce the risk of exacerbations. Finally, the background treatment, such as exacerbations, must be identical to the treatment of other patients.

Les modifications physiologiques chez la femme enceinte l'exposent à un risque de décompensation respiratoire plus rapide. L'asthme concerne 2-13% des grossesses. Il est donc important d'assurer un suivi régulier pour permettre un bon contrôle de l'asthme afin de diminuer le risque d'exacerbations. Enfin, le traitement de fond, comme celui des exacerbations, doivent être identiques aux traitements des autres patients.

Excited Delirium: A Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to clarify the definition, epidemiology, and pathophysiology of excited delirium syndrome (ExDS) and to summarize evidence-based treatment recommendations. METHODS: We conducted a systematic literature search of MEDLINE, Ovid, Web of Knowledge, and Cochrane Library for articles published to March 18, 2017. We also searched the gray literature (Google Scholar) and official police or medical expert reports to complete specific epidemiologic data. Search results and full-text articles were independently assessed by two investigators and agreements between reviewers assessed with K statistics. We classified articles by study type, setting, and evidence level. RESULTS: After reviewing the title and abstract of 3,604 references, we fully reviewed 284 potentially relevant references, from which 66 were selected for final review. Six contributed to the definition of ExDS, 24 to its epidemiology, 38 to its pathophysiology, and 27 to its management. The incidence of ExDS varies widely with medical or medicolegal context. Mortality is estimated to be as much as 8.3% to 16.5%. Patients are predominantly male. Male sex, young age, African-American race, and being overweight are independent risk factors. Pathophysiology hypotheses mostly implicate dopaminergic pathways. Most cases occur with psychostimulant use or among psychiatric patients or both. Proposed treatments are symptomatic, often with rapid sedation with benzodiazepines or antipsychotic agents. Ketamine is suggested as an alternative. CONCLUSION: The overall quality of studies was poor. A universally recognized definition is lacking, remaining mostly syndromic and based on clinical subjective criteria. High mortality rate may be due to definition inconsistency and reporting bias. Our results suggest that ExDS is a real clinical entity that still kills people and that has probably specific mechanisms and risk factors. No comparative study has been performed to conclude whether one treatment approach is preferable to another in the case of ExDS.

Mechanical restraint in an emergency department: a consecutive series of 593 cases.

The objective is to describe the characteristics of mechanically restrained patients in the emergency department (ED) of a university hospital and to evaluate the quality of restraint documentation that was filled out according to the dedicated protocol with respect to the law on restraint. All adult patients (≥16 years) who were admitted to the ED from January 2009 to December 2010 and were mechanically restrained were included. We assessed medical and demographic characteristics, the completeness of the dedicated protocol, and the concomitant use of chemical sedation. 72,844 patients were admitted to the ED. Of these, 593 (0.81%) were mechanically restrained. Two types of patients were restrained: young patients under the influence of psychoactive substances who were usually discharged home, and confused older patients who were hospitalized. 186 dedicated protocols were missing (31.4%). From the 407 filled-out protocols, only 119 (29.2%) were complete. Of the mechanically restrained patients, 215 (36.2%) received additional chemical sedation. Even though restraint is strictly regulated by law, many protocols justifying the privation of liberty were not filled out. This emphasizes the need for strict respect of the dedicated protocol and the use of guidelines and training sessions for nursing and medical staff that address specific procedures for the two categories of patients needing to be restrained.

Impact of the 2014-2015 influenza season on the activity of an academic emergency department.

The morbidity and mortality of the 2014-2015 influenza season were more important than those in previous years. We assessed the impact of the 2014-2015 influenza season on the length of stay (LOS) and workload in an academic emergency department (ED). This is a monocentric retrospective study. The database of the microbiology laboratory was used to identify influenza nasal swabs performed during the influenza seasons from 2010 to 2015. Patients admitted to the ED during these periods were identified through the administrative database and cross-checked with patients who underwent an influenza nasal swab in the ED. Median LOS was used to estimate the impact of the isolation procedures on ED LOS. Bed occupancy rate and mean LOS in the ED were calculated as proxy of the ED workload. During the 2014-2015 influenza season, 55.9% of ED patients (n = 123) with confirmed influenza were hospitalised. In terms of workload, despite that influenza patients represented only 2.2% of all ED patients during the season, they occupied 28% of ED beds with respiratory isolation during the delay to realise and obtain the test results, as well as during the delay before being discharged home or transferred to a hospital ward. The median ED LOS for influenza-confirmed patients was significantly longer in comparison with all ED patients (21.6 h vs 4.0 for ambulatory patients and 24.7 h vs 12.3 for hospitalised patients). The 2014-2015 influenza season had significant consequences in terms of ED LOS and bed use. It dramatically increased the workload in the ED.

[Emergency medecine : myths in hospital care]. / Mythes en médecine d'urgence : prises en charge intrahospitalières.

Many of our medical procedures are conditioned by beliefs or experiences by our mentors, which we pass on to the younger, for example: gradually emptying a full bladder to avoid hypotension or haemorrhage, hydrating the alcoholic so that the blood alcohol level decreases faster, always obtaining an arterial blood gas instead of a venous one and not injecting iodinated intravenous contrast in patients allergic to shellfish.

Un bon nombre de nos actes médicaux sont conditionnés par les croyances ou les expériences enseignées par nos mentors que nous transmettons à notre tour aux plus jeunes : vider progressivement un globe urinaire pour éviter une hypotension artérielle ou une hémorragie, hydrater les alcoolisés pour que leur alcoo-lémie baisse plus vite, toujours réaliser une gazométrie artérielle au lieu de veineuse et ne pas injecter de produits de contraste iodés chez les allergiques aux crustacés sont des exemples.

[Emergency medicine : updates 2016]. / Médecine d'urgence.

Several articles have been published during 2016 suggesting amendments in certain established practices of emergency medicine. Amongst such practices now in question are : 1) the use in mechanical cardiopulmonary resuscitation of amiodarone and lidocaine which appear not to improve survival or neurological outcome ; 2) apneic oxygenation being associated with a significant increase in first pass success intubation ; 3) an updating of the definition of sepsis and septic shock which facilitate earlier identification of susceptible patients ; 4) the use of the high sensitivity troponin 0-hour / 1-hour algorithm which differentiates earlier patients with or without acute myocardial infarction ; 5) that intramuscular non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs offer effective sustained analgesia for renal colic, and finally 6) that irrigation of an abscess cavity after incision and drainage is not beneficial.

Plusieurs articles publiés en 2016 ont fait évoluer les connaissances dans divers domaines de la médecine d'urgence : 1) lors de réanimations cardiopulmonaires, le recours à des dispositifs de compression mécanique, comme l'utilisation de l'amiodarone ou de la lidocaïne, n'améliore ni la survie ni le pronostic neurologique ; 2) la préoxygénation apnéique diminue le risque de désaturation lors d'intubation en séquence rapide ; 3) les nouvelles définitions du sepsis et du choc septique ont évolué et permettent l'identification rapide des patients avec un sepsis ; 4) l'utilisation d'un algorithme avec le dosage précoce des troponines ultrasensibles à 0 et +1 heure permet de trier efficacement les patients avec ou sans infarctus du myocarde ; 5) le traitement des coliques néphrétiques avec des AINS par voie intramusculaire est efficace et 6) enfin, irriguer un abcès cutané après son incision et drainage n'offre pas de bénéfice.

[Emergency medicine: updates 2015]. / Médecine d'urgence.

The year 2015 was marked by several publications questioning the practice of emergency medicine. The systematic administration of oxygen in STEMI patients offers no benefit. Similarly, medical expulsive therapy in patients with ureteric stones was questioned. Administration of steroids for acute radiculopathy showed only short-term, but no mid-term pain improvement. Several studies have demonstrated the benefit combining intraarterial and intravenous thrombolytic therapy for ischemic stroke. However, studies assessing optimal management strategy for patients hospitalized with community acquired pneumonia, showed conflicting results. Finally, these developments occur in the context of an aging population and increase of pre-hospital management for the elderly, raising the question of how to reduce hospital admissions in this population.

Effects of continuous positive airway pressure treatment on coronary vasoreactivity measured by (82)Rb cardiac PET/CT in obstructive sleep apnea patients.

PURPOSE: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSA) increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. We aimed at evaluating the effect of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment on coronary endothelium-dependent vasoreactivity in OSA patients by quantifying myocardial blood flow (MBF) response to cold pressure testing (CPT). METHODS: In the morning after polysomnography (PSG), all participants underwent a dynamic (82)Rb cardiac positron emitting tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scan at rest, during CPT and adenosine stress. PSG and PET/CT were repeated at least 6 weeks after initiating CPAP treatment. OSA patients were compared to controls and according to response to CPAP. Patients' characteristics and PSG parameters were used to determine predictors of CPT-MBF. RESULTS: Thirty-two untreated OSA patients (age 58 ± 13 years, 27 men) and 9 controls (age 62 ± 5 years, 4 men) were enrolled. At baseline, compared to controls (apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) = 5.3 ± 2.6/h), untreated OSA patients (AHI = 48.6 ± 19.7/h) tend to have a lower CPT-MBF (1.1 ± 0.2 mL/min/g vs. 1.3 ± 0.4 mL/min/g, p = 0.09). After initiating CPAP, CPT-MBF was not different between well-treated patients (AHI <10/h) and controls (1.3 ± 0.3 mL/min/g vs. 1.3 ± 0.4 mL/min/g, p = 0.83), but it was lower for insufficiently treated patients (AHI ≥10/h) (0.9 ± 0.2 mL/min/g vs. 1.3 ± 0.4 mL/min/g, p = 0.0045). CPT-MBF was also higher in well-treated than in insufficiently treated patients (1.3 ± 0.3 mL/min/g vs. 0.9 ± 0.2 mL/min/g, p = 0.001). Mean nocturnal oxygen saturation (ß = -0.55, p = 0.02) and BMI (ß = -0.58, p = 0.02) were independent predictors of CPT-MBF in OSA patients. CONCLUSIONS: Coronary endothelial vasoreactivity is impaired in insufficiently treated OSA patients compared to well-treated patients and controls, confirming the need for CPAP optimization.