Background: In a military setting, pre-hospital times may be extended due to geographical or operational issues. Helicopter casevac enables patients to be transported expediently across all terrains. The skill-mix of the pre-hospital team can vary.
Aim: To quantify the doctors' contribution to the Medical Emergency Response Team-Enhanced (MERT-E).
Methods: A prospective log of missions recorded urgency category, patient nationality, mechanism of injury, medical interventions and whether, in the crew's opinion, the presence of the doctor made a positive contribution.
Results: Between July and November 2008, MERT-E flew 324 missions for 429 patients. 56% of patients carried were local nationals, 35% were UK forces. 22% of patients were T1, 52% were T2, 21.5% were T3 and 4% were dead. 48% patients had blast injuries, 25% had gunshot wounds, 6 patients had been exposed to blast and gunshot wounds. Median time from take-off to ED arrival was 44 min. A doctor flew on 88% of missions. It was thought that a doctor's presence was not clinically beneficial in 77% of missions. There were 62 recorded physician's
Interventions: the most common intervention was rapid sequence induction (45%); other interventions included provision of analgesia, sedation or blood products (34%), chest drain or thoracostomy (5%), and pronouncing life extinct (6%).
Conclusion: MERT-E is a high value asset which makes an important contribution to patient care. A relatively small proportion of missions require interventions beyond the capability of well-trained military paramedics; the indirect benefits of a physician are more difficult to quantify.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/emj.2010.097642 | DOI Listing |
J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol
January 2025
Department of Cardiac Electrophysiology and Pacing, Arrhythmia Heart Failure Academy, The Madras Medical Mission, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
Introduction: Permanent implantation of a DF-4 implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) lead in the left bundle branch area (LBBA-ICD) is the next paradigm in amalgamating cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) and defibrillation. We systematically investigated feasibility/success rate, procedural caveats, and complications associated with a permanent DF-4 LBBA ICD implant and pertinent data at short-term follow-up.
Methods: We prospectively attempted implantation of 7 Fr Durata (Abbott, Chicago, IL, USA) single coil DF-4 ICD lead at the LBBA using a fixed-curve non-deflectable CPS locator delivery sheath.
Aerosp Med Hum Perform
January 2025
Background: Mission Controllers (MCs) are the main point of contact for space crews and are vital for successful human spaceflight. On a mission to Mars, there will be as long as 22-min one-way communication delays between the ground and the crew, causing major changes to current communication infrastructures.
Methods: This exploratory study assessed the impact of a 20-min one-way communication delay on MCs' task performance, workload, and stress levels under nominal and off-nominal conditions, conducted during a 21-d analog mission.
Travel Med Infect Dis
January 2025
School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland; School of Medicine, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Electronic address:
Introduction: There has been limited literature reporting the nature of the consular assistance provided to travellers. This study aimed to describe the consular assistance activity of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs.
Methods: Publicly available consular assistance data (2014-2023) were analysed descriptively.
Front Antibiot
September 2024
Research and Education, Clinical Research Education and Management Services (CREAMS), Lilongwe, Malawi.
Background: Childhood remains a vulnerable period and a key determiner for adult health. Various illnesses experienced by children in their early years determine future performance and contribution to society. Acute and chronic infectious diseases, undernutrition, and early childhood non-communicable diseases have greatly been linked to intellectual disability, poor childhood development, increased morbidity, and household and healthcare economic costs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
January 2025
Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V., Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany.
The Nord Stream pipeline leaks on 26 September 2022 released 465 ± 20 kt of methane into the atmosphere, which is the largest recorded transient anthropogenic methane emission event. While most of the gas escaped directly to the atmosphere, a fraction dissolved in the water. So far, studies on the fate of this dissolved methane rely on pipeline volumetric estimates or spatially sparse concentration measurements and ocean models.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!