Experiences and actions of part-time firefighters' family members: a critical incident study.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to describe the experiences and actions of part-time firefighters' family members in rural areas in Sweden.

Design: The study had an inductive descriptive design and used the critical incident technique.

Setting: Rural areas, primarily served by a part-time fire station, across Sweden.

Clinical Outcomes of Protocolized Antibiotic Dosing in Critically Ill Surgical Patients With Bacteremia and Augmented Renal Clearance Compared With Critically Ill Surgical Patients Without Augmented Renal Clearance.

Augmented renal clearance (ARC) is a phenomenon observed in critically ill patients, leading to supraphysiologic drug clearance and concern for suboptimal antibiotic concentrations. The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical outcomes of our institutional protocolized antibiotic dosing regimen in critically ill patients with bacteremia and ARC compared with critically ill patients without ARC. We performed a retrospective study comparing the efficacy of an institutional protocolized antibiotic dosing regimen in critically ill patients with bacteremia and ARC compared with critically ill patients without ARC.

Response times in rural areas for emergency medical services, fire and rescue services and voluntary first responders during out-of-hospital cardiac arrests.

Aim: To increase survival in out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA), great efforts are made to improve the number of voluntary first responders (VFR). However, evidence of the potential utility of such efforts is sparse, especially in rural areas. Therefore, the aim was to describe and compare response times for emergency medical services (EMS), fire and rescue services (FRS), and VFR during OHCA in relation to population density.

Microbial Transfer by Intermittent Catheters: An In Vitro Evaluation of Microbial Transfer in Catheter With Variable Protective Features.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of various protective features (eg, catheter cap, introducer tip, and catheter sleeve) of hydrophilic intermittent catheters against contamination with urinary tract infection-associated microorganisms using an in vitro model.

Design: An in vitro study of microbial transfer.

Materials And Methods: Gloves were contaminated with uropathogenic microorganisms and used to simulate intermittent catheterization of male anatomical models with and without the protective features present in 5 commercially available hydrophilic catheters.

Antimicrobial effects of a borate-based bioactive glass wound matrix on wound-relevant pathogens.

Objective: The antimicrobial effects of a borate-based bioactive glass matrix (BBBGM) on clinically relevant microorganisms was investigated for up to seven days in vitro.

Method: A total of 19 wound-relevant pathogens were studied using the in vitro AATCC 100 test method.

Results: The reduction of viable Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria and yeasts at days 4 and 7 post-culture on the BBBGM was significant (> 4log) in most cases.