Background: Crowding in Emergency Departments (ED), results from the imbalance between the simultaneous demand for health care and the ability of the system to respond. The NEDOCS scale (National Emergency Department Crowding Scale) measures the degree of crowding in an ED.
Aim: To describe ED Crowding characteristics, using the NEDOCS scale, in an Argentinean hospital.
Material And Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted with all adult patient consultations between July 2013 and July 2014 at the ED of Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires. We included all hours in the analysis period (365 days x 24 h = 8,760). The NEDOCS value was calculated for each hour using an automatic algorithm and was quantified in a six points score. Levels 4 (overcrowded), 5 (severely overcrowded) and 6 (dangerously overcrowded) were defined as overcrowding. Contour plots analysis was applied to identify patterns.
Results: During the study period, 124,758 visits to the ED were registered. Overcrowding was present in 57.7% (5,055) of the analyzed hours. A predominance of scores between four and five was observed between 10:00 and 24:00 hours. The months with predominance of overcrowding were June, July and August (southern winter).
Conclusions: The calculation of the NEDOCS score and the analysis of its temporal distribution are highly relevant to identify opportunities for improvement and to develop mechanisms to prevent the highest categories of overcrowding.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0034-98872017000500001 | DOI Listing |
Nat Commun
December 2024
Institute of Carbon Neutrality, Sino-French Institute for Earth System Science, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Compound soil drought and heat extremes are expected to occur more frequently with global warming, causing wide-ranging socio-ecological repercussions. Vegetation modulates air temperature and soil moisture through biophysical processes, thereby influencing the occurrence of such extremes. Global vegetation cover is broadly expected to increase under climate change, but it remains unclear whether vegetation greening will alleviate or aggravate future increases in compound soil drought-heat events.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
December 2024
Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Ruijin Hospital, Institutes of Respiratory Diseases, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Shanghai Key Laboratory of Emergency Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Respiratory Infectious Diseases, Shanghai, China.
Human adenovirus (HAdV) is a widely spread respiratory pathogen that can cause infections in multiple tissues and organs. Previous studies have established an association between HAdV species B (HAdV-B) infection and severe community-acquired pneumonia (SCAP). However, the connection between SCAP-associated HAdV-B infection and host factor expression profile in patients has not been systematically investigated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdv Sci (Weinh)
December 2024
Department of Critical Care Medicine and Emergency, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200030, P. R. China.
The sepsis-induced acute lung injury (ALI) still represents one of the leading causes of death in critically ill patients, underscoring the need for novel therapies. Excessive activation of immune cells and damage of reactive oxygen species (ROS) are the main factors that exacerbate lung injury. Here, the multifaceted immunomodulatory nanocomplexes targeting the proinflammatory neutrophilic activation and ROS damage are established.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Gynaecol Obstet
December 2024
Department of Obstetrics, Birth Center Wilhelmina Children Hospital, Division Woman and Baby, University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Objective: Cesarean sections (CS) are among the most performed surgical procedures in the world. Small variations in surgical techniques could have a significant impact on a global scale, for example, in postoperative complications. In the present study we aimed to observe and audit every single step used during first time CS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAcad Emerg Med
December 2024
Fellowship in Emergency Trauma, Montreal General Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Background: Pain management is a critical part of treatment in patients with chest trauma. Opioids and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs have been the most commonly used medications. However, their side effects have drawn attention to other medications.
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