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BACKGROUND: ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is a high-risk patient medical emergency. We developed a secure mobile application, STEMIcathAID, to optimize care for STEMI patients by providing a digital platform for communication between the STEMI care team members, EKG transmission, cardiac catherization laboratory (cath lab) activation and ambulance tracking. The aim of this report is to describe the implementation of the app into the current STEMI workflow in preparation for a pilot project employing the app for inter-hospital STEMI transfer. APPROACH: App deployment involved key leadership stakeholders from all multidisciplinary teams taking care of STEMI patients. The team developed a transition plan addressing all aspects of the health system improvement process including the workflow analysis and redesign, app installation, personnel training including user account access to the app, and development of a quality assurance program for progress evaluation. The pilot will go live in the Emergency Department (ED) of one of the hospitals within the Mount Sinai Hospital System (MSHS) during the daytime weekday hours at the beginning and extending to 24/7 schedule over 4-6 weeks. For the duration of the pilot, ED personnel will combine the STEMIcathAID app activation with previous established STEMI activation processes through the MSHS Clinical Command Center (CCC) to ensure efficient and reliable response to a STEMI alert. More than 250 people were provisioned app accounts including ED Physicians and frontline nurses, and trained on their user-specific roles and responsibilities and scheduled in the app. The team will be provided with a feedback form that is discipline specific to complete after every STEMI case in order to collect information on user experience with the STEMIcathAID app functionality. The form will also provide quantitative metrics for the key time sensitive steps in STEMI care. CONCLUSIONS: We developed a uniform approach for deployment of a mobile application for STEMI activation and transfer in a large urban healthcare system to optimize the clinical workflow in STEMI care. The results of the pilot will demonstrate whether the app has a significant impact on the quality of care for transfer of STEMI patients.
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Aplicativos Móveis , Infarto do Miocárdio , Infarto do Miocárdio com Supradesnível do Segmento ST , Atenção à Saúde , Humanos , Projetos Piloto , Infarto do Miocárdio com Supradesnível do Segmento ST/terapia , Fluxo de TrabalhoRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is an important resource that interacts with our most vulnerable patients during transport home after hospital discharge. EMS providers may be appropriately situated to support the transition of care to the home environment. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to determine whether patients transported home by ambulance experience higher rates of return emergency department (ED) visits and readmission compared with similar patients transported home by other means. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study conducted at a U.S. tertiary care academic hospital. Patients aged 65 years and over transported home via ambulance after hospital discharge between January and March 2012 were included. Rates of 72-h and 30-day ED revisits and 30-day hospital readmissions were calculated. Odds ratios were calculated and revisit rates between groups were compared. RESULTS: There were 207 patients aged 65 and over transported home by ambulance. Matched controls were found for 162 patients. Compared with the matched controls, the exposed group experienced a statistically significant higher rate of 30-day ED returns (18.519% vs. 10.494%; odds ratio [OR] 1.939; p = 0.043). The exposed group also experienced a higher rate of 72-h ED returns (2.469% vs. 0.617%; OR 4.076) and 30-day readmissions (12.346% vs. 6.173%; OR 2.141), though results did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSION: The study findings suggest that transport home via ambulance after hospital discharge could be predictive of a high risk of recidivism independent of established readmission risk factors. Programs that expand the role of EMS to include post-transport interventions may warrant further exploration.
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Ambulâncias , Serviços Médicos de Emergência , Serviço Hospitalar de Emergência , Humanos , Readmissão do Paciente , Estudos RetrospectivosRESUMO
INTRODUCTION: Studies have shown that a large number of ambulance transports to emergency departments (ED) could have been safely treated in an alternative environment, prompting interest in the development of more patient-centered models for prehospital care. We examined patient attitudes, perspectives, and agreement/comfort with alternate destinations and other proposed innovations in Emergency Medical Services (EMS) care delivery and determined whether demographic, socioeconomic, acuity, and EMS utilization history factors impact levels of agreement. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study on a convenience sample of patients and caregivers presenting to an urban academic ED between July 2012 and May 2013. Respondents were surveyed on levels of agreement with 13 statements corresponding to various aspects of a proposed patient-centered emergency response system including increased EMS access to healthcare records, shared decision making with the patient and/or primary care physician, transport to alternative destinations, and relative importance of EMS assessment versus transportation. Information on demographic and socioeconomic factors, level of acuity, and EMS utilization history were also determined via survey and chart review. Responses were analyzed descriptively and compared across patient characteristics using chi-square and regression analyses. RESULTS: A total of 621 patients were enrolled. The percentage of patients who agreed or strongly agreed with each of the 13 statements ranged from 48.2 to 93.8%. About 86% agreed with increased EMS access to healthcare records; approximately 72% agreed with coordinating disposition decisions with a primary physician; and about 58% supported transport to alternative destinations for low acuity conditions. No association was found between levels of agreement and the patient's level of acuity or EMS utilization history. Only Black or Hispanic race showed isolated associations with lower rates of agreement with some aspects of an innovative EMS care delivery model. CONCLUSION: A substantial proportion of patients surveyed in this cross sectional study agreed with a more patient-centered approach to prehospital care where a 9-1-1 call could be met with a variety of treatment and transportation options. Agreement was relatively consistent among a diverse group of patients with varying demographics, levels of acuity and EMS utilization history. MeSH Key words: emergency medical services; triage; telemedicine; surveys and questionnaires; transportation of patients.
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Serviços Médicos de Emergência/estatística & dados numéricos , Assistência Centrada no Paciente/estatística & dados numéricos , Transporte de Pacientes/estatística & dados numéricos , Triagem/estatística & dados numéricos , Adolescente , Adulto , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Criança , Pré-Escolar , Estudos Transversais , Tomada de Decisões , Feminino , Humanos , Lactente , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Inquéritos e Questionários , Telemedicina , Adulto JovemRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Clinical outcomes of patients presenting with STEMI are significantly improved by reducing time from vessel occlusion to coronary blood flow restoration. In an effort to improve outcomes, we developed a secure mobile application, STEMIcathAID, and designed a pilot project implementing the app into the workflow for STEMI patients transfer. The aim of the study is to assess the impact of the app on key metrics for STEMI transfer before (historic) and after app launch. METHODS: The pilot project included physicians, nurses and technicians from the Emergency Medicine and Nursing Departments at the referring center, the catheterization laboratory and transfer center. From July 2021 to February 2023, the referring center activated STEMIcathAID alarms in parallel with the previously established STEMI activation with traditional phone call to transfer center. RESULTS: One hundred eleven suspected STEMI calls were activated through the app with 66 accepted and 45 rejected cases; thirty-one STEMI cases with available device time were compared with 42 STEMIs activated through the traditional pathway before the app implementation. Median door-to-device time for STEMIcathAID-assisted transfer decreased from 106 to 86 min (p < 0.001). The significant improvement, 20 min (19%), of the key metric for interhospital transfer resulted in all STEMI cases meeting the AHA goal of door-to-device time ≤ 120 min. In addition, median door-in-door-out time at the referral hospital decreased from 56 to 50 min (p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of a mobile app into STEMI workflow of a large urban healthcare system significantly improved the quality of care for transfer of STEMI patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION: AHA Get With The Guidelines-Coronary Artery Disease® (GWTG-CAD) registry is a national quality improvement program and is not subject to the institutional review board approval.
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Novel H1N1 influenza spread rapidly around the world in spring 2009. Few places were as widely affected as the New York metropolitan area. Emergency departments (EDs) in the region experienced daily visit increases in 2 distinct temporal peaks, with means of 36.8% and 60.7% over baseline in April and May, respectively, and became, in a sense, the "canary in the coal mine" for the rest of the country as we braced ourselves for resurgent spread in the fall. Biosurveillance efforts by public health agencies can lead to earlier detection, potentially forestalling spread of outbreaks and leading to better situational awareness by frontline medical staff and public health workers as they respond to a crisis, but biosurveillance has traditionally relied on manual reporting by hospital administrators when they are least able: in the midst of a public health crisis. This article explores the use of health information exchange networks, which enable the secure flow of clinical data among otherwise unaffiliated providers across entire regions for the purposes of clinical care, as a tool for automated biosurveillance reporting. Additionally, this article uses a health information exchange to assess H1N1's effect on ED visit rates and discusses preparedness recommendations and lessons learned from the spring 2009 H1N1 experience across 11 geographically distinct EDs in New York City that participate in the health information exchange.
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Biovigilância , Surtos de Doenças/estatística & dados numéricos , Serviço Hospitalar de Emergência/estatística & dados numéricos , Vírus da Influenza A Subtipo H1N1 , Disseminação de Informação , Informação de Saúde ao Consumidor , Planejamento em Saúde , Humanos , Cidade de Nova Iorque/epidemiologiaRESUMO
Introduction Great demands have been placed on disaster medicine educators. There is a need to develop innovative methods to educate Emergency Physicians in the ever-expanding body of disaster medicine knowledge. The authors sought to demonstrate that video-based learning (VBL) could be a promising alternative to traditional learning methods for teaching disaster medicine core competencies. Hypothesis/Problem The objective was to compare VBL to traditional lecture (TL) for instructing Emergency Medicine residents in the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP; Irving, Texas USA) disaster medicine core competencies of patient triage and decontamination. METHODS: A randomized, controlled pilot study compared two methods of instruction for mass triage, decontamination, and personal protective equipment (PPE). Emergency Medicine resident learning was measured with a knowledge quiz, a Likert scale measuring comfort, and a practical exercise. An independent samples t-test compared the scoring of the VBL with the TL group. RESULTS: Twenty-six residents were randomized to VBL (n=13) or TL (n=13). Knowledge score improvement following video (14.9%) versus lecture (14.1%) did not differ significantly between the groups (P=.74). Comfort score improvement also did not differ (P=.64) between video (18.3%) and lecture groups (15.8%). In the practical skills assessment, the VBL group outperformed the TL group overall (70.4% vs 55.5%; P<.0001), with significantly better performance in donning PPE and decontamination. Although not part of the original study design, a three-month post-hoc analysis was performed. When comparing the pre-intervention and three-month post-hoc performances, there were no significant differences in knowledge increases between VBL versus TL (P=.41) or in comfort (P=.39). CONCLUSION: Video modules can be as effective as TL when utilized to train Emergency Medicine residents in the ACEP disaster medicine core competencies of patient triage and decontamination. Curtis HA , Trang K , Chason KW , Biddinger PD . Video-based learning vs traditional lecture for instructing emergency medicine residents in disaster medicine principles of mass triage, decontamination, and personal protective equipment. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2018;33(1):7-12.
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Competência Clínica , Descontaminação/métodos , Medicina de Desastres/educação , Roupa de Proteção , Treinamento por Simulação/métodos , Triagem/métodos , Adulto , Educação de Pós-Graduação em Medicina/métodos , Medicina de Emergência/educação , Feminino , Humanos , Internato e Residência/métodos , Aprendizagem , Masculino , Projetos Piloto , Gravação em VídeoRESUMO
Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OOH-CA) is a leading cause of mortality and the focus of significant research. Recent studies provide new evidence that may change our management of OOH-CA and improve outcomes. The findings of two recently published studies of OOH-CA are reviewed in this article. The first, the Public Access Defibrillation Trial, was a randomized, controlled trial of public access defibrillation in 993 community facilities in the U.S. and Canada . It demonstrated that a community strategy to train laypersons to respond to cardiac arrests significantly increased survival to hospital discharge following OOH-CA in nonresidential community units with community members trained and equipped to provide public access defibrillation, compared to community units with community members trained to provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) without any capacity for defibrillation. The second, the European Resuscitation Council Vasopressor during Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Study, was a randomized, controlled, double-blinded trial that compared vasopressin to epinephrine as the initial pharmacological therapy for 1,219 patients who sustained OOH-CA. The study demonstrated that vasopressin is similar to epinephrine for OOH-CA due to ventricular fibrillation or pulseless electrical activity, and superior to epinephrine for the initial treatment of asystolic arrest; it also demonstrated that the combination of vasopressin and epinephrine is superior to epinephrine alone in the treatment of refractory, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Studies on alternative CPR techniques and adjunctive devices for CPR were also reviewed. We conclude that pre-hospital access to defibrillators and the use of vasopressin in the management of asystole hold promise for improving survival for patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
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Reanimação Cardiopulmonar/métodos , Serviços Médicos de Emergência/métodos , Parada Cardíaca/terapia , Vasopressinas/uso terapêutico , Antidiuréticos/uso terapêutico , Reanimação Cardiopulmonar/educação , Cardioversão Elétrica , Primeiros Socorros , Parada Cardíaca/tratamento farmacológico , Humanos , Ensaios Clínicos Controlados Aleatórios como Assunto , Características de Residência , Vasoconstritores/uso terapêuticoRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Twitter is a social network where users read, send, and share snippets of text ("tweets"). Tweets can be disseminated through multiple means; on desktop computers, laptops, and mobile devices, over ethernet, Wi-Fi or cellular networks. This redundancy positions Twitter as a useful tool for disseminating information to the public during emergencies or disasters. Previous research on dissemination of information using Twitter has mostly investigated the characteristics of tweets that are most effective in raising consumer awareness about a new product or event. In particular, they describe characteristics that increase the chance the messages will be shared ("retweeted") by users. In comparison, little has been published on how information from municipal or state government agencies spreads on Twitter during emergency situations. Retweeting these messages is a way to enhance public awareness of potentially important instructions from public officials in a disaster. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to (1) describe the tweets of select New York State and New York City agencies by public officials surrounding two notable recent winter storms that required a large-scale emergency response, and (2) identify the characteristics of the tweets of public officials that were most disseminated (retweeted). METHODS: For one week surrounding Superstorm Sandy (October 2012) and the winter blizzard Nemo (February 2013), we collected (1) tweets from the official accounts for six New York governmental agencies, and (2) all tweets containing the hashtags #sandy (or #nemo) and #nyc. From these data we calculated how many times a tweet was retweeted, controlling for differences in baseline activity in each account. We observed how many hashtags and links each tweet contained. We also calculated the lexical diversity of each tweet, a measure of the range of vocabulary used. RESULTS: During the Sandy storm, 3242 shared (retweeted) messages from public officials were collected. The lexical diversity of official tweets was similar (2.25-2.49) and well below the average for non-official tweets mentioning #sandy and #nyc (3.82). Most official tweets were with substantial retweets including a link for further reading. Of the 448 tweets analyzed from six official city and state Twitter accounts from the Nemo blizzard, 271 were related to the storm, and 174 had actionable information for the public. Actionable storm messages were retweeted approximately 24x per message, compared to 31x per message for general storm information. CONCLUSIONS: During two weather emergencies, New York public officials were able to convey storm-related information that was shared widely beyond existing follower bases, potentially improving situational awareness and disaster response. Official Sandy tweets, characterized by a lower lexical diversity score than other city- and Sandy-related tweets, were likely easier to understand, and often linked to further information and resources. Actionable information in the Nemo blizzard, such as specific instructions and cancellation notices, was not shared as often as more general warnings and "fun facts," suggesting agencies mix important instructions with more general news and trivia, as a way of reaching the broadest audience during a disaster.
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BACKGROUND: Recent data suggests that high-flow oxygen started promptly after stroke symptom onset salvages ischemic brain tissue. We investigated the consistency of oxygen delivery to suspected stroke patients in the pre-hospital (PH) and Emergency Department (ED) settings, and associated adverse events (AEs). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed pre-hospital call reports of suspected stroke patients transported by our institution's paramedics. We extracted data on oxygen delivery in the PH and ED settings, demographics, Glasgow Coma Scale score (GCS), final diagnosis, and selected AEs (mortality, seizures, worsening neurological status, new infarction, and post-ischemic hemorrhage). Patients were grouped according to ED oxygen delivery: none, low-flow (2-4 L/min), and high-flow (10-15 L/min). RESULTS: Oxygen delivery was documented in 84% of 366 stroke transports, with 98% receiving 10-15 L/min. Our hospital received 164 patients. Oxygen delivery in the ED was documented in 150 patients, with 38% receiving none, 47% low-flow, and 15% high-flow oxygen. There were no instances of oxygen refusal, premature termination, or technical difficulties. Advanced age and low GCS predicted the use of higher flow rates. High-flow oxygen was more frequently administered to patients with symptom onset < 3 hours, and those with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) or seizures (p < 0.001). More patients receiving high-flow oxygen were documented to have an AE (p = 0.02), however the low- and no-oxygen groups more frequently had multiple AEs (p = 0.01). The occurrence of AEs was predicted by the diagnosis of ICH/HIE/seizures (p = 0.013) and acute ischemic stroke (AIS)/transient ischemic attack (TIA) (p = 0.009), but not by the amount of oxygen. CONCLUSIONS: Suspected stroke patients routinely receive 10-15 L/min oxygen in the ambulance however in the ED there is wide variability due to factors such as clinical severity. Oxygen delivery appears safe in the PH and ED settings.
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As hospitals incorporate information technology (IT), their operations become increasingly vulnerable to technological breakdowns and attacks. Proper emergency management and business continuity planning require an approach to identify, mitigate, and work through IT downtime. Hospitals can prepare for these disasters by reviewing case studies. This case study details the disruption of computer operations at Mount Sinai Medical Center (MSMC), an urban academic teaching hospital. The events, and MSMC's response, are narrated and the impact on hospital operations is analyzed. MSMC's disaster management strategy prevented computer failure from compromising patient care, although walkouts and time-to-disposition in the emergency department (ED) notably increased. This incident highlights the importance of disaster preparedness and mitigation. It also demonstrates the value of using operational data to evaluate hospital responses to disasters. Quantifying normal hospital functions, just as with a patient's vital signs, may help quantitatively evaluate and improve disaster management and business continuity planning.
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Segurança Computacional , Planejamento em Desastres/organização & administração , Serviço Hospitalar de Emergência , Falha de Equipamento , Sistemas de Informação Hospitalar/organização & administração , Hospitais de Ensino , Humanos , Estudos de Casos OrganizacionaisRESUMO
OBJECTIVES: The objective was to determine if 9-1-1 paramedics trained in ultrasound (US) could adequately perform and interpret the Focused Assessment Sonography in Trauma (FAST) and the abdominal aortic (AA) exams in the prehospital care environment. METHODS: Paramedics at two emergency medical services (EMS) agencies received a 6-hour training program in US with ongoing refresher education. Paramedics collected US in the field using a prospective convenience methodology. All US were performed in the ambulance without scene delay. US exams were reviewed in a blinded fashion by an emergency sonographer physician overreader (PO). RESULTS: A total of 104 patients had an US performed between January 1, 2008, and January 1, 2009. Twenty AA exams were performed and all were interpreted as negative by the paramedics and the PO. Paramedics were unable to obtain adequate images in 7.7% (8/104) of the patients. Eighty-four patients had the FAST exam performed. Six exams (6/84, 7.1%) were read as positive for free intraperitoneal/pericardial fluid by both the paramedics and the PO. FAST and AA US exam interpretation by the paramedics had a 100% proportion of agreement with the PO. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study shows that with close supervision, paramedics can adequately obtain and interpret prehospital FAST and AA US images under protocol. These results support a growing body of literature that indicates US may be feasible and useful in the prehospital setting.
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Aneurisma da Aorta Abdominal/diagnóstico por imagem , Serviços Médicos de Emergência , Sistemas Automatizados de Assistência Junto ao Leito , Dor Abdominal/diagnóstico por imagem , Adulto , Idoso , Serviços Médicos de Emergência/normas , Auxiliares de Emergência/educação , Humanos , Minnesota , Projetos Piloto , Estudos Prospectivos , Ultrassonografia/métodos , Ultrassonografia/normas , Adulto JovemRESUMO
Prehospital ultrasound has been deployed in certain areas of the USA and Europe. Physicians, emergency medical technicians, and flight nurses have utilized a variety of medical and trauma ultrasound assessments to impact patient care in the field. The goal of this review is to summarize the literature on emergency medical services (EMS) use of ultrasound to more clearly define the potential utility of this technology for prehospital providers.