Is There an Association Between Emergency Department Overcrowding and Emergency Medical Services Redirection?

Background: Emergency Medical Systems (EMS) has developed policies to manage patient flow. In New York City, these practices include both diversion and redirection. Currently, gaps in the literature exist regarding the correlation between emergency department (ED) operational metrics and EMS redirection triggers.

Boosting Confidence and Skills: A Multidisciplinary Evaluation of an Emergency Department-Based Procedure Team Rotation.

Introduction: Emergency Medicine (EM) residency programs aim to ensure residents' proficiency in performing invasive procedures. Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH) introduced an interdepartmental "Procedure Team'' to increase senior EM residents' exposure to such procedures. This study aims to evaluate the Procedure Team rotation's perceived effectiveness by assessing EM residents' improvement in comfort levels in performing procedures, EM attendings' perceptions of the curriculum's effectiveness in improving procedural and communication skills, and internal medicine (IM) resident feedback.

Development and Implementation of a Novel Emergency Department-Based Procedure Team for Inpatient Hospital Procedures.

Background: Emergency medicine (EM) demands proficiency in a broad set of procedural skills for emergency physicians. However, there is a literature gap on integrating EM expertise into procedure teams, especially in inpatient settings.

Objectives: This study aims to outline the development and implementation of a novel ED-based procedure team for inpatient care.

Characteristics of patients who return to the emergency department after an observation-unit assessment.

Objective: Emergency department observation units (EDOUs) transition patients from the ED to dedicated areas where they can receive continuous monitoring. Understanding patient return visits after EDOU discharge is important for optimizing healthcare. The objective of this study was to investigate the correlations between demographic and clinical features and the likelihood of returning to the ED within 30 days following an initial EDOU assessment.

Femoral nerve blocks versus standard pain control for hip fractures: a retrospective comparative analysis.

Objective: Pain control for hip fractures is often achieved via intravenous opioids. However, opioids can have dangerous adverse effects, including respiratory depression and delirium. Peripheral nerve blockade is an alternative option for pain control that reduces the need for opioid analgesia.

Utilization of a multidisciplinary hospital-based approach to reduce readmission rates.

Background: Hospital readmissions remain a significant and pressing issue in our healthcare system. In 2010, the Affordable Care Act helped establish the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program, which incentivized reducing readmission rates by instituting penalties. Hospital readmission, specifically unplanned, refers to a patient returning to the hospital shortly after discharge due to the same or a related medical condition, signaling potential issues in initial care, discharge processes, or post-hospitalization management.

The Effect of an Iodinated Contrast Material Shortage on Ordering Patterns in the Emergency Department.

Introduction Iodinated contrast media (ICM) is essential to emergency department care in differentiating and delineating life-threatening pathologies. In May 2022, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, there was an unprecedented disruption in the manufacturing of iodinated contrast. The primary goal of this study was to describe the effects of an ICM shortage on the ordering patterns of emergency medicine physicians.

Improvement of Procedure Documentation Compliance With the Implementation of a Visual Aid.

Background: Emergency department (ED) providers face increasing task burdens and requirements related to documentation and paperwork. To decrease the mental task burden for providers, our institution developed an infographic that illustrates which forms are necessary for complete documentation of nonemergent invasive procedures.

Objectives: Our study aims to analyze the effect of a nonelectronic health record-based infographic, paired with direct feedback, on compliance with nonemergent invasive procedure documentation performed in the ED.

Distribution of Lower Extremity Deep Vein Thrombosis and Implications for Limited Compression Ultrasound Examinations.

Background: Limited compression bedside ultrasonography (LCUS) including two-point, three-point, and extended compression examinations have become increasingly popular among emergency physicians to assess for lower extremity deep venous thrombosis (DVT).

Objective: Our objective in this study was to determine the prevalence and distribution of lower extremity DVT in sites identified by complete duplex ultrasonography (CDUS) that may potentially be missed using limited compression ultrasonography techniques.

Methods: This was a retrospective, multicenter study conducted at 12 hospitals within the Northwell Health system over a span of 4 years.

A Strange Twist.

Case Presentation: A 16-year-old female presented to the emergency department with acute onset of right lower quadrant abdominal pain for several hours. The patient was afebrile and physical examination was notable for isolated tenderness in the right lower quadrant. Ultrasound and computed tomography demonstrated an adnexal cystic structure.

Characteristics and Demographics of Patients Requiring Emergent Air Medical.

Background: As integrated health systems become more common, interfacility patient transfers will increase and air transport programs will be prioritized. Understanding characteristics of patients triaged to air medical transport will assist with resource allocation and needs assessment. The objective of this study was to investigate the demographics and clinical characteristics of patients that presented to the emergency department (ED) and subsequently required emergent air medical interfacility transport.