Human trafficking screening in Saskatoon Emergency Departments: What can be learned from high-risk patient presentations?

Objective: Studies have shown that Emergency Department physicians have little to no training in recognizing and supporting victims of human trafficking despite being uniquely situated to identify and intervene on behalf of these patients. We assessed if screening for human trafficking was being completed by emergency physicians in three Saskatoon emergency departments.

Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of patients presenting to three Saskatoon emergency departments deemed to potentially be at risk of human trafficking, based on discharge diagnosis.

A comparison of self-triage tools to nurse driven triage in the emergency department.

Introduction: Canadian patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) typically undergo a triage process where they are assessed by a specially trained nurse and assigned a Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS) score, indicating their level of acuity and urgency of assessment. We sought to assess the ability of patients to self-triage themselves through use of one of two of our proprietary self-triage tools, and how this would compare with the standard nurse-driven triage process.

Methods: We enrolled a convenience sample of ambulatory ED patients aged 17 years or older who presented with chief complaints of chest pain, abdominal pain, breathing problems, or musculoskeletal pain.

Global emergency medicine: four part series on best practices : Paper 1: Introduction and overview of global emergency medicine.

The Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians' (CAEP) Global Emergency Medicine committee presents a four-part series that builds upon the Academic Symposium recommendations from the CAEP 2018 meeting (Collier et al. in CJEM 21(5):600-606, 2019). This series presents best practices and offers practical tools for the development and practice of Global EM.

Beliefs of physician directors on the management of devastating brain injuries at the Canadian emergency department and intensive care unit interface: a national site-level survey.

Purpose: Insufficient evidence-based recommendations to guide care for patients with devastating brain injuries (DBIs) leave patients vulnerable to inconsistent practice at the emergency department (ED) and intensive care unit (ICU) interface. We sought to characterize the beliefs of Canadian emergency medicine (EM) and critical care medicine (CCM) physician site directors regarding current management practices for patients with DBI.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of EM and CCM physician directors of adult EDs and ICUs across Canada (December 2022 to March 2023).

Factors associated with frequent buprenorphine / naloxone initiation in a national survey of Canadian emergency physicians.

Objective: To identify individual and site-related factors associated with frequent emergency department (ED) buprenorphine/naloxone (BUP) initiation. BUP initiation, an effective opioid use disorder (OUD) intervention, varies widely across Canadian EDs.

Methods: We surveyed emergency physicians in 6 Canadian provinces from 2018 to 2019 using bilingual paper and web-based questionnaires.

Communication between consultants providing advice and referring physicians: a scoping review.

Objective: Communication during consultations between referring and consultant physicians is often cited as a source of adverse events, medical error and professional incivility. While existing literature focuses on the role of referring physicians, few studies acknowledge the role of consultant physicians in enhancing communication during consultations. This scoping review aims to identify and synthesise available recommendations to enhance the communication practices of consultants during real-time consultations.

The impact of alternate level of care on access block and operational strategies to reduce emergency wait times: a multi-center simulation study.

Objectives: Lengthy emergency department (ED) wait times caused by hospital access block is a growing concern for the Canadian health care system. Our objective was to quantify the impact of alternate-level-of-care on hospital access block and evaluate the likely effects of multiple interventions on ED wait times.

Methods: Discrete-event simulation models were developed to simulate patient flows in EDs and acute care of six Canadian hospitals.

Health Literacy and Serious or Persistent Mental Illness: A Mixed Methods Study.

Background: Health literacy is increasingly recognized as a major determinant of health; however, our insights into the health literacy strengths and needs of adults living with serious or persistent mental illness remain limited by a notable lack of research in this area. Improving our understanding is important because people in this group are especially vulnerable to numerous negative health outcomes, many preventable.

Objective: To assess the health literacy strengths and needs of people living with serious or persistent mental illness in terms of their ability to acquire, understand, and use information about their illness and the health services they require.

Strength in the gap: A rapid review of principles and practices for urgent care centres.

Responding to a provincial government decision to develop two Urgent Care Centres (UCCs) in Saskatchewan, we undertook a rapid review of published literature with the objective of determining best practices for their creation and functioning. Two English-limited PubMed database searches combining "after-hours care," "ambulatory care," "emergency medicine," "urgent care," "minor emergency," "walk-in," and "Canada" over the past 10 years were the sources of articles for our review. Articles were independently reviewed by two authors and synthesized collaboratively.

Outcomes of a controlled trial with visiting therapy dog teams on pain in adults in an emergency department.

Context: Pain is a primary reason individuals attend an Emergency Department (ED), and its management is a concern.

Objectives: Change in symptoms and physiologic variables at 3 time points pre-post a ten-minute St. John Ambulance therapy dog team visit compared to no visit in ED patients who experienced pain.

Trauma experiences of rural practitioners: A self assessment.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to identify, through self-assessment, how comfortable rural emergency medicine (EM) physicians are in treating critically ill trauma patients, the resources available to treat such patients and their comfort with performing trauma procedures.

Methods: An anonymous self-assessment survey was e-mailed to family physicians practising rural EM in Saskatchewan regarding training, hospital resources, demographics and self-reported comfort with rural trauma management. We included physicians who had provided EM care within the past year in Saskatchewan outside of the major trauma centres.

A cross-sectional survey on buprenorphine-naloxone practice and attitudes in 22 Canadian emergency physician groups: a cross-sectional survey.

Background: Buprenorphine-naloxone (BUP) initiation in emergency departments improves follow-up and survival among patients with opioid use disorder. We aimed to assess self-reported BUP-related practices and attitudes among emergency physicians.

Methods: We designed a cross-sectional physician survey by adapting a validated questionnaire on opioid harm reduction practices, attitudes and barriers.

Unidentified patients in the emergency department: a historical cohort study.

Objectives: To characterize unidentified patients presenting to a single, urban emergency department (ED) in Canada. We report their demographics, ED course, post-ED discharge outcomes, and mode of identification.

Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review using descriptive analyses to assess unidentified patients admitted to Royal University Hospital and St.

The revised Approved Instructional Resources score: An improved quality evaluation tool for online educational resources.

Background: Free Open-Access Medical education (FOAM) use among residents continues to rise. However, it often lacks quality assurance processes and residents receive little guidance on quality assessment. The Academic Life in Emergency Medicine Approved Instructional Resources tool (AAT) was created for FOAM appraisal by and for expert educators and has demonstrated validity in this context.

A Comparison Between Computer-Assisted Self-Triage by Patients and Triage Performed by Nurses in the Emergency Department.

Background and objective Emergency departments (EDs) often find the number of arriving patients exceeding their capacity and find it difficult to triage them in a timely manner. The potential risk to the safety of patients awaiting assessment by a triage professional has led some hospitals to consider implementing patient self-triage, such as using kiosks. Published studies about patient self-triage are scarce and information about patients' ability to accurately assess the acuity of their condition or predict their need to be hospitalized is limited.

Prevalence of Cigarette Smoking Among Adult Emergency Department Patients in Canada.

Introduction: Tobacco smoking is a priority public health concern, and a leading cause of death and disability globally. While the daily smoking prevalence in Canada is approximately 9.7%, the proportion of smokers among emergency department (ED) patients has been found to be significantly higher.

Patient Opinion of Visiting Therapy Dogs in a Hospital Emergency Department.

To date there have been no studies examining whether patients want emergency department (ED) therapy dog programs. This patient-oriented study examined the opinions of patients about whether they would want to be visited by a therapy dog in the Royal University Hospital ED. Cross-sectional survey data were collected over a six week period from a convenience sample of 100 adult patients who had not been visited by a therapy dog in the ED.

Emergency department referrals from a provincial medical call centre: Is it more than just 1-800-go-to-emerg?

Objective: HealthLine is Saskatchewan's provincial 24-hour health information and support telephone line. A proportion of HealthLine's callers are referred to the emergency department (ED) for further assessment. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the appropriateness of these referrals and assess whether they increased the burden on an already strained ED system.

An Assessment of Handover Culture and Preferred Information in the Transitions of Care of Elderly Patients.

Introduction Transitions of care for elderly patients in long term care (LTC) to the emergency department (ED) is fraught with communication challenges. Information preferred during these transitions has not been agreed upon. We sought to understand our local handover culture and identify what information is preferred in the transitions of care of these patients.

At Risk for Emotional Harm in the Emergency Department: Older Adult Patients' and Caregivers' Experiences, Strategies, and Recommendations.

Emergency departments (ED) serve a critical role in addressing the health care needs of older adults, although organizational and provider characteristics can result in unintended negative outcomes for this population, such as emotional harm. This study aimed to describe the patient experience of older adults in the ED and generate recommendations for enhancing their experience. Data from focus groups and individual interviews of older adults and caregivers who had visited the ED were thematically analyzed.

Self-documentary in the emergency department: Perspectives on patients recording their own procedures.

Objectives: Patients often bring their smartphones to the emergency department (ED) and want to record their procedures. There was no clear ED recording policy in the Saskatoon Health Region nor is there in the new Saskatchewan Health Authority. With limited literature on the subject, clinicians currently make the decision to allow/deny the request to record independently.