Disparities in Prehospital Non-Traumatic Pain Management.

Introduction: While prior research has identified racial disparities in prehospital analgesia for traumatic pain, little is known about non-traumatic pain. Using a national prehospital dataset, we sought to evaluate for racial and ethnic disparities in analgesia given by EMS for non-traumatic pain.Methods: We analyzed the 2018 and 2019 data from the ESO Data Collaborative, a collection of de-identified prehospital electronic health records from nearly 1,300 participating EMS agencies in the US. We included all transported, adult, non-traumatic encounters with a primary or secondary impression of a pain complaint, and we stratified encounters based on race and ethnicity as recorded by the EMS clinicians. We performed a mixed model analysis, modeling EMS agency as a random intercept and adjusting for age, sex, pain location, level of service, location of incident, and highest pain score. With non-Hispanic White patients as the reference group, we then evaluated the association between race/ethnicity and receiving any pain medication (acetaminophen, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, or opioids), receiving opioid pain medication, and receiving pain medication within 20 minutes of EMS arrival.Results: We included 1,035,486 patients; 67.5% non-Hispanic White, 26.8% Black, 4.9% Hispanic, 0.5% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and 0.2% American Indian or Alaska Native patients. 4.7% of patients received pain medications. Compared to White patients (5.1%), Black patients were less likely to receive pain medication (3.3%, aOR 0.7; 95% CI 0.7-0.7) and Hispanics were more likely to receive pain medication (7.6%, aOR 1.5; 95% CI 1.4-1.6). Black patients were also less likely to receive opioids (1.8% for Black v 3.0% for White, aOR 0.7; 95% CI 0.6-0.7), while Hispanic patients were more likely to receive opioids (4.9%, aOR 1.4; 95% CI 1.3-1.5). The odds of receiving pain medication within 20 minutes was lower for Black patients (aOR 0.9; 95% CI 0.8-0.95) but no different for Hispanic patients (aOR 1.0; 95% CI 0.9-1.1), when compared to White patients.Conclusion: Pain medication administration is uncommon for non-traumatic pain complaints. While Black patients were less likely than White patients to receive pain medications and receive pain medication within 20 minutes, Hispanics were more likely to receive pain medications.

Prehospital Intranasal Glucagon for Hypoglycemia.

BACKGROUND: Prehospital hypoglycemia is usually treated with oral or intravenous (IV) dextrose in a variety of concentrations. In the absence of vascular access, intramuscular (IM) glucagon is commonly administered. Occupational needle-stick injury remains a significant risk while attempting to obtain vascular access or administer medications intramuscularly in the prehospital setting. We sought to determine if intranasal (IN) glucagon is effective in the prehospital treatment of hypoglycemia. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of all consecutive cases where recombinant glucagon was administered IN by paramedics from January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2020. Excluded were cases without pre or post administration blood glucose documentation, and cases where another form of treatment for hypoglycemia was administered at any time during the EMS encounter. The primary outcome was clinical response to IN glucagon documented by paramedics; secondary outcomes included pre and post administration blood glucose values. RESULTS: Out of 44 cases that met study inclusion criteria, 14 patients (32%) had substantial improvement, 13 patients (30%) had slight improvement, and 17 patients (38%) had no improvement in mental status after administration of IN glucagon. In cases with substantial improvement (n = 14), the mean pre administration blood glucose was 33.8 mg/dl and the mean post administration blood glucose was 87.1 mg/dl (mean increase 53.3 mg/dl, 95% CI: 21.5 to 85.1). In cases with slight improvement (n = 13), the mean pre administration blood glucose was 23.9 mg/dl and the mean post administration blood glucose was 53.8 mg/dl (mean increase 29.9 mg/dl, 95% CI = 2.9 to 56.9). In case with no improvement (n = 17) the mean pre administration blood glucose was 30.1 mg/dl and the mean post administration glucose was 33.1 mg/dl (mean difference 3.1 mg/dl, 95% CI: -10.1 to 3.9). CONCLUSION: Intranasal administration of recombinant glucagon for hypoglycemia resulted in a clinically significant improvement in mental status and a corresponding increase in blood glucose levels in select cases in the prehospital setting.

Implementing a Patient Tracking System in a Large EMS System.

Objective: Accurate tracking of patients poses a significant challenge to prehospital and hospital emergency medical providers in planned and unplanned events. Previous reports on patient tracking systems are limited primarily to descriptive reports of post incident reviews or simulated exercises. Our objective is to report our experience with implementing a patient barcode tracking system during various planned events within a large urban EMS system.Methods: In 2018, representatives from the Chicago Department of Public Health, Chicago Fire Department EMS, private EMS agencies, and 27 hospitals in the Chicago EMS System were trained on the use of a web-based patient tracking system using barcoded triage tags and wristbands to monitor triage category and hospital destination during an event. The tracking system was used on two planned operational days and three pre-planned mass gathering events. The primary outcome was the percent of patients initially scanned by EMS that were scanned by the hospital. Descriptive statistics were collected. Barriers to patient tracking system use were identified.Results: Each event was reviewed for the number of patients assigned a barcode identifier and scanned by EMS that were then scanned by the hospital. In the first planned operational day, 57% (359/622) of patients initially scanned by EMS were scanned by the hospital. In the second planned operational day, 88% (355/402) of EMS scanned patients were scanned by the hospital and 37% (133/355) were assigned a final disposition. At three city mass gathering events, there were 79% (50/63), 95% (190/199), and 82% (46/56) of EMS scanned patients also scanned by hospitals. Logistical and technological challenges were documented.Conclusions: Use of a web-based system with barcode identifiers successfully tracked patients from prehospital to hospital during planned operational days and mass gathering events. Percent of scanned patients increased after the first operational day and remained consistent in subsequent events. Limitations to the patient tracking system included logistical and technological barriers. Similar patient tracking systems may be implemented to assist with event management in other EMS systems.

Creation and Implementation of a Mastery Learning Curriculum for Emergency Department Thoracotomy.

INTRODUCTION: Emergency department thoracotomy (EDT) is a lifesaving procedure within the scope of practice of emergency physicians. Because EDT is infrequently performed, emergency medicine (EM) residents lack opportunities to develop procedural competency. There is no current mastery learning curriculum for residents to learn EDT. The purpose of this study was to develop and implement a simulation-based mastery learning curriculum to teach and assess EM residents' performance of the EDT. METHODS: We developed an EDT curriculum using a mastery learning framework. The minimum passing standard (MPS) for a previously developed 22-item checklist was determined using the Mastery Angoff approach. EM residents at a four-year academic EM residency program underwent baseline testing in performing an EDT on a simulation trainer. Performance was scored by two raters using the checklist. Learners then participated in a novel mastery learning EDT curriculum that included an educational video, hands-on instruction, and deliberate practice. After a three-month period, residents then completed initial post testing. Residents who did not meet the minimum passing standard after post testing participated in additional deliberate practice until mastery was obtained. Baseline and post-test scores, and time to completion of the procedure were compared with paired t-tests. RESULTS: Of 56 eligible EM residents, 54 completed baseline testing. Fifty-two residents completed post-testing until mastery was reached. The minimum passing standard was 91.1%, (21/22 items correct on the checklist). No participants met the MPS at the baseline assessment. After completion of the curriculum, all residents subsequently reached the MPS, with deliberate practice sessions not exceeding 40 minutes. Scores from baseline testing to post-testing significantly improved across all postgraduate years from a mean score of 10.2/22 to 21.4/22 (p <0.001). Mean time to complete the procedure improved from baseline testing (6 minutes [min] and 21 seconds [sec], interquartile range [IQR] = 4 min 54 sec - 7 min 51 sec) to post-testing (5 min 19 seconds, interquartile range 4 min 17sec - 6 min 15 sec; p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: This simulation-based mastery learning curriculum resulted in all residents performing an EDT at a level that met or exceeded the MPS with an overall decrease in time needed to perform the procedure.

Retrospective Study of Midazolam Protocol for Prehospital Behavioral Emergencies.

INTRODUCTION: Agitated patients in the prehospital setting pose challenges for both patient care and emergency medical services (EMS) provider safety. Midazolam is frequently used to control agitation in the emergency department setting; however, limited data exist in the prehospital setting. We describe our experience treating patients with midazolam for behavioral emergencies in a large urban EMS system. We hypothesized that using midazolam for acute agitation leads to improved clinical conditions without causing significant clinical deterioration. METHODS: We performed a retrospective review of EMS patient care reports following implementation of a behavioral emergencies protocol in a large urban EMS system from February 2014-June 2016. For acute agitation, paramedics administered midazolam 1 milligram (mg) intravenous (IV), 5 mg intramuscular (IM), or 5 mg intranasal (IN). Results were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Levene's test for assessing variance among study groups, and t-test to evaluate effectiveness based on route. RESULTS: In total, midazolam was administered 294 times to 257 patients. Median age was 30 (interquartile range 24-42) years, and 66.5% were male. Doses administered were 1 mg (7.1%) and 5 mg (92.9%). Routes were IM (52.0%), IN (40.8%), and IV (7.1%). A second dose was administered to 37 patients. In the majority of administrations, midazolam improved the patient's condition (73.5%) with infrequent adverse events (3.4%). There was no significant difference between the effectiveness of IM and IN midazolam (71.0% vs 75.4%; p = 0.24). CONCLUSION: A midazolam protocol for prehospital agitation was associated with reduced agitation and a low rate of adverse events.

Emergency Department Thoracotomy: Development of a Reliable, Validated Checklist for Procedural Training.

OBJECTIVES: Emergency department thoracotomy (EDT) is a rare and challenging procedure. Emergency medicine (EM) residents have limited opportunities to perform the procedure in clinical or educational settings. Standardized, reliable, validated checklists do not exist to evaluate procedural competency. The objectives of this project were twofold: 1) to develop a checklist containing the critical actions for performing an EDT that can be used for future procedural skills training and 2) to evaluate the reliability and validity of the checklist for performing EDT. METHODS: After a literature review, a preliminary 22-item checklist was developed and disseminated to experts in EM and trauma surgery. A modified Delphi method was used to revise the checklist. To assess usability of the checklist, EM and trauma surgery faculty and residents were evaluated performing an EDT while inter-rater reliability was calculated with Cohen's kappa. A Student's t-test was used to compare the performance of participants who had or had not performed a thoracotomy in clinical practice. Item-total correlation was calculated for each checklist item to determine discriminatory ability. RESULTS: A final 22-item checklist was developed for EDT. The overall inter-rater reliability was strong (κ = 0.84) with individual item agreement ranging from moderate to strong (κ = 0.61 to 1.00). Experts (attending physicians and senior residents) performed well on the checklist, achieving an average score of 80% on the checklist. Participants who had performed EDT in clinical practice performed significantly better than those that had not, achieving an average of 80.7% items completed versus 52.3% (p < 0.05). Seventeen of 22 items had an item-total correlation greater than 0.2. CONCLUSIONS: A final 22-item consensus-based checklist was developed for the EDT. Overall inter-rater reliability was strong. This checklist can be used in future studies to serve as a foundation for curriculum development around this important procedure.

The utility of computed tomography to evaluate thoracic complications after cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

BACKGROUND: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in adults following non-traumatic out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) can cause thoracic complications including rib fractures, sternal fractures, and pneumothorax. Post-CPR complication rates are poorly studied and the optimum imaging modality to detect these complications post-resuscitation has not been established. METHODS: We performed a retrospective review of adult patients transported to a single, urban, academic hospital following atraumatic OHCA between September 2015 and January 2020. Patients who achieved sustained return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) and who underwent computed tomography (CT) imaging of the chest following radiographic chest x-ray were included in the analyses. Patient demographics and prehospital data were collected. Descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed. Sensitivity and specificity of chest x-ray for the detection of thoracic injury in this population were estimated. RESULTS: 786 non-traumatic OHCA patients were transported to the ED, 417 of whom obtained sustained ROSC and were admitted to the hospital (53%). 137 (32.9%) admitted patients underwent CT imaging of the chest in the ED. Of these imaged patients median age was 62 years old (IQR 53-70) with 54.0% female and 38.0% of patients having received bystander CPR. 40/137 (29.2%) patients had skeletal fractures noted on CT imaging and 12/137 (8.8%) had pneumothorax present on CT imaging. X-ray yielded a sensitivity of 7.5% for rib fracture and 50% for pneumothorax with a specificity of 100% for both. Logistic regression analysis revealed no significant association between age, sex, bystander CPR, or resuscitation length with thoracic fractures or pneumothorax. CONCLUSIONS: Complications from OHCA CPR were high with 29.2% of CT imaged patients having rib fractures and 8.8% having pneumothoraces. X-ray had poor sensitivity for these post-resuscitation complications. Post-CPR CT imaging of the chest should be considered for detecting post-CPR complications.