Recommendations for blood sampling in emergency departments from the European Society for Emergency Medicine (EUSEM), European Society for Emergency Nursing (EuSEN), and European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) Working Group for the Preanalytical Phase. Executive summary.

Aim: Blood Sampling Guidelines have been developed to target European emergency medicine-related professionals involved in the blood sampling process (e.g. physicians, nurses, phlebotomists working in the ED), as well as laboratory physicians and other related professionals.

The preanalytical process in the emergency department, a European survey.

Objectives: Clinical decision-making in emergency medicine is under constant pressure from demand and performance requirements, with blood tests being a fundamental part of this. However, the preanalytical process has received little attention. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the quality of preanalytical phase processes in European emergency departments (EDs) from the perspectives of the three main providers: clinicians, nurses, and laboratory specialists.

Validation of a Belgian Prediction Model for Patient Encounters at Football Mass Gatherings.

Background: To validate the Belgian Plan Risk Manifestations (PRIMA) model, actual patient presentation rates (PPRs) from Belgium's largest football stadium were compared with predictions provided by existing models and the Belgian PRIMA model.

Methods: Actual patient presentations gathered from 41 football games (2010-2019) played at the King Baudouin Stadium (Brussels, Belgium) were compared with predictions by existing models and the PRIMA model. All attendees who sought medical help from in-event health services (IEHS) in the stadium or called 1-1-2 within the closed perimeter around the stadium were included.

Recognition of child maltreatment in emergency departments in Europe: Should we do better?

Objectives: To evaluate the different policies to recognize child maltreatment in emergency departments (EDs) in Europe in order to define areas of improvement.

Methods: A survey was conducted on the recognition of child maltreatment in EDs in European countries with a focus on screening methods, parental risk factors, training and hospital policies. The survey was distributed through different key members from the EUSEM, REPEM and the EuSEN.

The Incremental Hospitalization Cost of Significant Transport-Related Traumatic Brain Injury.

Aim: This study aims to determine the incremental cost of acute hospitalization for traumatic brain injury (TBI) compared with matched controls. A second purpose is to identify the factors contributing to this hospital costs.

Methodology: Analyses were performed on administrative data for injured patients, hospitalized in Belgium between 2009 and 2011 following a road traffic accident.

The incremental cost of traumatic brain injury during the first year after a road traffic accident.

This study aims to determine the incremental cost of TBI during the first year after a traffic accident, compared to other patients with similar non-TBI injuries. Secondly, identification of factors associated with medical costs of TBI is pursued. Analyses were performed on administrative data for traffic victims hospitalised in Belgium between 2009 and 2011.

Health care utilization after hospitalization following a road traffic accident.

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in measuring and modeling health care utilization. However, only limited research has been performed in the field of health care utilization following road traffic accidents. This article aims to measure the incremental health care utilization after hospital discharge after a road traffic accident and explore the association between socio-demographic and injury-related variables and health care utilization.

Time Gain Needed for In-Ambulance Telemedicine: Cost-Utility Model.

Background: Stroke is a very time-sensitive pathology, and many new solutions target the optimization of prehospital stroke care to improve the stroke management process. In-ambulance telemedicine, defined by live bidirectional audio-video between a patient and a neurologist in a moving ambulance and the automated transfer of vital parameters, is a promising new approach to speed up and improve the quality of acute stroke care. Currently, no evidence exists on the cost effectiveness of in-ambulance telemedicine.

Predicting in-hospital mortality of traffic victims: A comparison between AIS-and ICD-9-CM-related injury severity scales when only ICD-9-CM is reported.

Background And Aim: Injury severity scores are important in the context of developing European and national goals on traffic safety, health-care benchmarking and improving patient communication. Various severity scores are available and are mostly based on Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) or International Classification of Diseases (ICD). The aim of this paper is to compare the predictive value for in-hospital mortality between the various severity scores if only International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision, Clinical Modification ICD-9-CM is reported.

[Psychiatric applications at the emergency department of the Brussels University Hospital between 2003 and 2012].

Background: Although the emergency department in Belgian hospital is an important gateway to mental health care, there is lack of information about the way in which this population has evolved. Various studies have reported on the increasing numbers of patients with psychiatric problems, particularly in the younger age group.

Aim: To focus on the psychiatric applications at the emergency department of the Brussels University Hospital over a period of 10 years.

Feasibility of AmbulanCe-Based Telemedicine (FACT) study: safety, feasibility and reliability of third generation in-ambulance telemedicine.

Background: Telemedicine is currently mainly applied as an in-hospital service, but this technology also holds potential to improve emergency care in the prehospital arena. We report on the safety, feasibility and reliability of in-ambulance teleconsultation using a telemedicine system of the third generation.

Methods: A routine ambulance was equipped with a system for real-time bidirectional audio-video communication, automated transmission of vital parameters, glycemia and electronic patient identification.

European first aid guidelines.

Aim: Our objectives were to determine the most effective, safe, and feasible first aid (FA) techniques and procedures, and to formulate valid recommendations for training. We focussed on emergencies involving few casualties, where emergency medical services or healthcare professionals are not immediately present at the scene, but are available within a short space of time. Due to time and resource constraints, we limited ourselves to safety, emergency removal, psychosocial FA, traumatology, and poisoning.

Predictive value of Glasgow coma score for awakening after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Cerebral Resuscitation Study Group of the Belgian Society for Intensive Care.

The Glasgow coma score (GCS) during days 1-6 after cardiac arrest was used to predict neurological outcome in 360 resuscitated victims of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. A predictive rule based on the best GCS of 216 patients resuscitated in 1983-84 (prediction group) was constructed, and its predictive power was tested on 133 patients treated in 1985 (test group). Neurological outcome was correctly predicted 2 days after cardiac arrest in 80% of the prediction group, with a best GCS of 10 or above and 4 or below as cutoff points.