INTRODUCTION In Latin America, there is a preponderance of prehospital trauma deaths. However, scarce resources mandate that any improvements in prehospital medical care must be cost-effective. This study sought to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of several approaches to improving training for personnel in three ambulance services in Mexico. METHODS In Monterrey, training was augmented with P...

Objectives: To assess the impact of variation in prehospital care across distinct health care environments in ASSENT (assessment of the safety and efficacy of a new thrombolytic) -3 PLUS, a large (n = 1639) contemporary multicentred international trial of prehospital fibrinolysis. Specifically, the objectives were to assess predictors of time to treatment, whether components of time to treatmen...

OBJECTIVES To assess the impact of variation in prehospital care across distinct health care environments in ASSENT (assessment of the safety and efficacy of a new thrombolytic) -3 PLUS, a large (n = 1639) contemporary multicentred international trial of prehospital fibrinolysis. Specifically, the objectives were to assess predictors of time to treatment, whether components of time to treatment...

traumatic brain injury is a leading cause of death in developed countries. it is estimated that only in the united states about 100,000 people die annually in parallel among the survivors there is a significant number of people with disabilities with significant costs for the health system. it has been determined that after moderate and severe traumatic injury, brain parenchyma is affected by m...

Prehospital ultrasound has been deployed in certain areas of the USA and Europe. Physicians, emergency medical technicians, and flight nurses have utilized a variety of medical and trauma ultrasound assessments to impact patient care in the field. The goal of this review is to summarize the literature on emergency medical services (EMS) use of ultrasound to more clearly define the potential uti...

Magnesium compounds have been used in the healthcare setting for many years. Over-the-counter (OTC) products like magnesium oxides and magnesium hydroxides (magaldrate, Antiflux, Lowsium, Riopan) are used as antacids; magnesium salicylates (Doan’s pills, Magan, Mobidin) are used as non-narcotic analgesics; and magnesium salts (Milk of Magnesia) are used for constipation. This article focuses on...

Early identification of haemodynamic shock is widely acknowledged as a vital step towards improving survival. A report in the previous issue of Critical Care describes the relationship between lactate concentrations in blood samples analysed in the prehospital environment and subsequent hospital mortality. These preliminary data indicate a promising avenue of research into the treatment of haem...

BACKGROUND Acute asthma is a common reason for patients to seek care from ambulance services. Although better care of acute asthma can prevent avoidable morbidity and deaths, there has been little research into ambulance clinicians' adherence to national guidelines for asthma assessment and management and how this might be improved. Our research aim was to explore paramedics' attitudes, percept...

By 1965 the possibility of preventing deaths from arrhythmia among those stricken with coronary attacks was already well established. The realisation that most of these deaths occur shortly after onset and therefore outside hospital led to the recognition that hospital coronary care units were of limited value because most patients who reached them were already either convalescent or moribund. ...

By 1965 the possibility of preventing deaths from arrhythmia among those stricken with coronary attacks was already well established. The realisation that most of these deaths occur shortly after onset and therefore outside hospital led to the recognition that hospital coronary care units were of limited value because most patients who reached them were already either convalescent or moribund. ...