Emergency Medicine

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Despite a lack of thorough statistics, home water births seem to be not only increasingly prevalent in both the US and the UK, but also gaining traction in Australia and Europe.

Currently, more evidence is needed to warrant implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy than simply ventricular fibrillation soon after acute myocardial infarction (MI).

Because of its symptomatic similarity to ischemic stroke, an episode of transient global amnesia can be a terrifying ordeal.

Even in healthy women, the postpartum period is linked with a multitude of thromboembolic events like ischemic stroke.

SYNOPSIS: This prospective cohort study finds that high serum calcitonin levels upon admission are associated with elevated risk of invasive respiratory or vasopressor support (IRVS) within three days. Such findings allowed more accurate disease severity scores and improved the process for identifying high risk patients.

SYNOPSIS: A large prospective study finds that among trauma patients the most important factor linked to post-traumatic seizures was alcohol intoxication.

Landelle C, et al. Contamination of healthcare workers’ hands with Clostridium difficile spores after caring for patients with C difficile infection. Infection Control and Hosp Epidemiol 2014;35(1):10-15.

SYNOPSIS: In emergent intubations, a position in which the angle of the back was > 30 degrees above the horizontal (head-elevated) position was associated with fewer complications than intubations performed in the supine position, but the study has several limitations.

Emerging infectious diseases have long presented enormous challenges to healthcare workers. Whether it be Ebola, HINI, MERS or SARS, outbreaks have proven to cause serious problems for healthcare systems, problems that are often compounded by lapses in respiratory protection. Nonetheless, studies have repeatedly shown that these lapses persist.