Impact of neighborhood disadvantage on posttrauma outcomes after sexual assault.

In the United States, 8,000,000 people seek emergency care for traumatic injury annually. Motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) and sexual assault are two common sources of trauma, with evidence that reduced neighborhood-level socioeconomic characteristics increase posttraumatic pain and stress after an MVC. We evaluated whether neighborhood disadvantage was also associated with physical and mental posttrauma outcomes after sexual assault in a sample of adult women (N = 656) who presented for emergency care at facilities in the United States following sexual assault and were followed for 1 year.

Prehospital Surgical Airway Management: An NAEMSP Position Statement and Resource Document.

Bag-valve-mask ventilation and endotracheal intubation have been the mainstay of prehospital airway management for over four decades. Recently, supraglottic device use has risen due to various factors. The combination of bag-valve-mask ventilation, endotracheal intubation, and supraglottic devices allows for successful airway management in a majority of patients.

Pain is common after sexual assault and posttraumatic arousal/reactivity symptoms mediate the development of new or worsening persistent pain.

Clinically significant new or worsening pain (CSNWP) is a common, yet often overlooked, sequelae of sexual assault. Little is known regarding factors influencing the development of CSNWP in sexual assault survivors. The current study used data from a recently completed prospective study to evaluate whether posttraumatic alterations in arousal and reactivity in the early aftermath of sexual assault influence the transition from acute to clinically significant new or worsening persistent pain.

Perceived Care Quality Among Women Receiving Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Care: Results From a 1-Week Postexamination Survey in a Large Multisite Prospective Study.

Introduction: This study examined the perspectives of female patients who had been sexually assaulted regarding the quality of care provided by sexual assault nurse examiners, including whether the patients' perspectives varied by their demographic characteristics and health status before the assault.

Methods: A total of 695 female patients who received care from sexual assault nurse examiners at 13 United States emergency care centers and community-based programs completed standardized surveys 1 week after receiving sexual assault nurse examiners' care for sexual assault.

Results: Most patients strongly agreed that the sexual assault nurse examiners provided high-quality care, including taking patients' needs/concerns seriously, not acting as though the assault was the patient's fault, showing care/compassion, explaining the sexual assault examination, and providing follow-up information.

A comparison of three conducted electrical weapons in a surrogate swine cardiac safety model.

We used a previously described methodology in a swine model to compare the relative cardiac safety of the Axon T7 Conducted Electrical Weapon (CEW), released in October of 2018, to two prior generations of Axon CEWs to include the X2 and the X26E. A total of 5 swine (252 total CEW exposures) were tested by alternating the three weapons at each chest exposure location. Our testing, using systemic hypotension as the quantitative surrogate for cardiac capture, demonstrated that the T7 and X2 were not statistically different.

Health care utilization by women sexual assault survivors after emergency care: Results of a multisite prospective study.

Background: Approximately, 100,000 US women receive emergency care after sexual assault each year, but no large-scale study has examined the incidence of posttraumatic sequelae, receipt of health care, and frequency of assault disclosure to providers. The current study evaluated health outcomes and service utilization among women in the 6 weeks after sexual assault.

Methods: Women ≥18 years of age presenting for emergency care after sexual assault to twelve sites were approached.

The Characteristics and Prevalence of Agitation in an Urban County Emergency Department.

Study Objective: We seek to determine the characteristics and prevalence of agitation among patients in an urban county emergency department (ED).

Methods: This was a prospective observational study of ED patients at an urban Level I trauma center. All ED patients were screened during daily randomized 8-hour enrollment periods.

A prospective study of ketamine as primary therapy for prehospital profound agitation.

Objective: We investigated the effectiveness of ketamine as a primary therapy for prehospital profound agitation.

Methods: This was a prospective observational study of patients receiving 5mg/kg of intramuscular ketamine for profound agitation, defined as a score of +4 on the Altered Mental Status Scale (AMSS), a validated ordinal scale of agitation from -4 (unresponsive) to +4 (most agitated). The primary outcome was time to adequate sedation (AMSS<+1).

Effect of Body-Worn Cameras on EMS Documentation Accuracy: A Pilot Study.

Introduction: Current Emergency Medical Services (EMS) documentation practices usually occur from memory after an event is over. While this practice is fairly standard, it is unclear if it can introduce significant error. Modern technology has seen the increased use of recorded video by society to more objectively document notable events.

Randomizing Patients without Consent: Waiver vs Exception from Informed Consent.

Cole JB , Ho JD , Biros MH . Randomizing patients without consent: waiver vs exception from informed consent. Prehosp Disaster Med.

A prospective study of ketamine versus haloperidol for severe prehospital agitation.

Context: Ketamine is an emerging drug for the treatment of acute undifferentiated agitation in the prehospital environment, however no prospective comparative studies have evaluated its effectiveness or safety in this clinical setting.

Objective: We hypothesized 5 mg/kg of intramuscular ketamine would be superior to 10 mg of intramuscular haloperidol for severe prehospital agitation, with time to adequate sedation as the primary outcome measure.

Methods: This was a prospective open label study of all patients in an urban EMS system requiring chemical sedation for severe acute undifferentiated agitation that were subsequently transported to the EMS system's primary Emergency Department.

American Academy of Emergency Medicine Position Statement: Safety of Droperidol Use in the Emergency Department.

Background: Droperidol (Inapsine®, Glaxosmithkline, Brent, UK) is a butyrophenone used in emergency medicine practice for a variety of uses. QT prolongation is a well-known adverse effect of this class of medications. Of importance to note, QT prolongation is noted with multiple medication classes, and droperidol increases QT interval in a dose-dependent fashion among susceptible individuals.

Conducted electrical weapons within healthcare: a comprehensive use of force model.

Healthcare settings are experiencing increased amounts of violent activity that are challenging to the health care security profession. There is difficulty in addressing this issue completely. Some of this difficulty is because of factors that include inexperienced and untrained clinicians and administrators that are often the decision-makers in the health care setting.

An evaluation of two conducted electrical weapons using a swine comparative cardiac safety model.

Arrest-related deaths proximate to the use of a conducted electrical weapon (CEW) continue to generate controversy despite a better understanding of the multi-factorial nature of many of these deaths. With the rapid adoption of this technology by law enforcement, and the proliferation of companies entering the marketplace, it is important to have a method to assess the relative safety of these weapons. We had previously developed a model to assess the relative cardiac safety of CEWs.

Hand sanitization rates in an urban emergency medical services system.

Background: Hand sanitizing, although often a "forgotten" practice, has been demonstrated to be a leading factor in preventing infectious disease transmission in health care environments. Previous studies have looked at hand-sanitization rates in hospital settings, but we are aware of very few describing this in the prehospital setting. Because emergency medical services (EMS) providers are potential vectors of infectious disease spread, it is important to know if their hand-sanitization practices are sufficient.

Markers of acidosis and stress in a sprint versus a conducted electrical weapon.

Both profound acidosis and catecholamine excess have been proposed as underlying physiologic derangements in subjects at high risk for arrest related death (ARD). In this study, the objective was to determine a level of physical exertion that is "equivalent" in terms of levels of acidosis and catecholamines to a "standard" TASER X26 exposure. Data were collected on subjects who underwent a 5-s TASER X26 exposure or a sprint of variable distances during a law enforcement training exercise.