Emergency Medicine Australasia

Attempts to improve overcrowded emergency departments (EDs) and access blocked patients by imposing a four-hour rule may be useful in altering behaviour but such changes have not been applied systematically in every case, with an excessive focus on the ED itself and insufficient focus on the real issues, according to papers by high-profile international specialists in the field.

While the incidence of on-road motorcycle-related death in adults has decreased, off-road motorcycle-related major trauma has increased, and this has not been targeted in injury prevention campaigns in Australia.

Patient obesity significantly increases the difficulty of their management in the emergency department (ED), a study of 750 patients has found.

One-third of patients attending a hospital emergency department (ED) are smokers, much higher than the rate for the rest of the population.

Despite improved safety measures, the incidence of trauma related to trams has increased, even when adjusted for population growth, a Melbourne study has found.

Young heroin users are relatively high users of acute hospital care services, and women use the services more than men.

In modern developed countries with adequate emergency response systems and extensive resources, deaths which occur in floods are almost all preventable.

New study shows prescribing errors can be reduced when paramedics increase the frequency of patients bringing their medications to the emergency department.

Hospitals’ access block issues are far from resolved - needing national focus while affecting everyone and resulting in increased mortality.

The increasing use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) may result in increasing numbers of burn injuries, as most people are unaware of the dangers and of appropriate first aid.

Sports are a major cause of head injuries in children in Victoria, with Australian Rules football the most commonly involved sport.

Paracetamol is as effective as ibuprofen for relief of pain in children who have an acute bone fracture.

Hospitals have very likely reached saturation point in their efficiency in managing patient flow.

Studies show that although parents and carers are willing to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), their knowledge of the current guidelines is poor.