Downtime after critical incidents in emergency medical technicians/paramedics.

Effective workplace-based interventions after critical incidents (CIs) are needed for emergency medical technicians (EMT)/paramedics. The evidence for a period out of service post-CI (downtime) is sparse; however it may prevent posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and burnout symptoms. We examined the hypothesis that downtime post-CI is associated with fewer symptoms of four long-term emotional sequelae in EMT/paramedics: depression, PTSD, burnout, and stress-related emotional symptoms (accepted cut-offs defined high scores).

Alanine aminotransferase and directly measured insulin sensitivity in a multiethnic cohort: the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study.

Objective: The objective of the present analysis was to evaluate the association of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) with directly measured insulin sensitivity (S(i)) in a large, multiethnic cohort of U.S. adults and to determine whether ALT adds to existing metabolic risk definitions in identifying subjects with insulin resistance.

Allogeneic red blood cell transfusion is an independent risk factor for the development of postoperative bacterial infection.

Background And Objectives: Allogeneic red blood cell transfusions may exert immunomodulatory effects in recipients including an increased rate of postoperative bacterial infection. It is controversial whether allogeneic transfusion is an independent predictor for the development of postoperative bacterial infection.

Methods: We analysed a prospectively collected database of 1,349 patients undergoing colorectal surgery in 11 centres across Canada.