CAEP Position Statement: Emergency department management of people with opioid use disorder.

Deaths due to opioid overdose have reached unprecedented levels in Canada; over 12,800 opioid-related deaths occurred between January 2016 and March 2019, and overdose death rates increased by approximately 50% from 2016 to 2018.1 In 2016, Health Canada declared the opioid epidemic a national public health crisis,2 and life expectancy increases have halted in Canada for the first time in decades.3 Children are not exempt from this crisis, and the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada has recently prioritized the prevention of problematic substance use among Canadian youth.

Outcomes of a Provincial Myocardial Infarction Reperfusion Strategy: A Population-Based, Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: Fibrinolysis is an acceptable treatment for acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) when primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) cannot be performed within 120 minutes. The American Heart Association has recommended Emergency Medical Services (EMS) interventions such as prehospital fibrinolysis (PHF), prehospital electrocardiogram (ECG), and hospital bypass direct to PCI center. Nova Scotia, Canada has incorporated these interventions into a unique province-wide approach to STEMI care.

Pediatric Secondary Transfer Percentages: A Retrospective Observational Study.

Introduction: Certain adult conditions treated by paramedics, such as myocardial infarction or stroke, have better outcomes if transported to a specialty centre, bypassing local generalist facilities when necessary. Little evidence exists to inform guidelines to identify pediatric patients who would benefit from direct transport to a pediatric centre. This study describes the characteristics of children brought to community emergency departments (ED) who subsequently required transfer to pediatric specialty care.

State of the Evidence for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Care: The Evolution and Current Methodology of the Prehospital Evidence-Based Practice (PEP) Program.

Background: Emergency medical services (EMS) leaders and clinicians need to incorporate evidence into safe and effective clinical practice. Access to high-quality evidence, and the time to synthesize it, can be barriers to evidence-based practice. The Prehospital Evidence-Based Practice (PEP) program is an online, freely accessible, repository of critically appraised evidence specific to EMS.

Offload zones to mitigate emergency medical services (EMS) offload delay in the emergency department: a process map and hazard analysis.

Unlabelled: Introduction Offload delay is a prolonged interval between ambulance arrival in the emergency department (ED) and transfer of patient care, typically occurring when EDs are crowded. The offload zone (OZ), which manages ambulance patients waiting for an ED bed, has been implemented to mitigate the impact of ED crowding on ambulance availability. Little is known about the safety or efficiency.