Injury Prevention Archives - The Western Journal of Emergency Medicine

Injury Prevention

Are Usual and Customary Charges Reasonable?

R. Myles Riner, MD

An editorial about the use of usual and customary charges for out-of-network benefit determinations.

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Injury Prevention

Injuries Following Segway Personal Transporter Accidents: Case Report and Review of the Literature

Volume 16, Issue 5, September 2015.
John Ashurst DO, MSc, et al.

The Segway® self-balancing personal transporter has been used as a means of transport for
sightseeing tourists, military, police and emergency medical personnel. Only recently have reports
been published about serious injuries that have been sustained while operating this device. This
case describes a 67-year-old male who sustained an oblique fracture of the shaft of the femur
while using the Segway® for transportation around his community. We also present a review of the
literature.

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Injury Prevention

Descriptive Study of Prescriptions for Opioids from a Suburban Academic Emergency Department Before New York’s I-STOP Act

Volume 16, Issue 1, January 2015
Lyncean Ung, DO et al.

Controlled prescription opioid use is perceived as a national problem attributed to all specialties.

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Injury Prevention

Disposición para Cambiar y Razones para Reducir Intencionalmente el Consumo de Alcohol en el Departamento de Medicina de Emergencia versus la Población de Trauma

Volume 15, Issue 3, May 2014
Harrison C, MD, MPH et al.

El objetivo primario era identificar las razones más comunes para la intención de disminuir el uso de alcohol en la sala de emergencia (ED) y en la población de pacientes de trauma. El objetivo secundario era determinar la asociación entre la razón de disminuir el consumo de alcohol y el nivel de educación.

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Injury Prevention

Successful Conviction of Intoxicated Drivers at a Level I Trauma Center

Volume 15, Issue 4, July 2014
James F. Holmes, MD, MPH et al.

Conviction rates for drivers driving under the influence (DUI) and in motor vehicle collisions (MVC) presenting to trauma centers are based primarily on data from the 1990s.

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Injury Outcomes Injury Prevention

Emergency Departments and Older Adult Motor Vehicle Collisions

In 2009 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that there were 33 million licensed drivers 65 years and older in the U.S. This represents a 23 percent increase from 1999, a number that is predicted to double by 2030. Although motor vehicle collisions related to emergency department visits for older adults are lower per capita than for younger adults, the older-adults MVCs require more resources, such as additional diagnostic imaging and increased odds of admission.

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Injury Prevention

Prevalence of Exposure to Risk Factors for Violence among Young Adults Seen in an Inner-City Emergency Department

Introduction: To assess the prevalence of risk factors for violent injury among young adults treated at an urban emergency department (ED).

Conclusion: Over 30% of young adults presenting to an urban ED reported high exposure to risk factors for violent injury. The high prevalence of these risk factors among ED patients highlights the potential benefit of a survey instrument to identify youth who might benefit from a targeted, ED-based violence prevention program.

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Injury Prevention

Compliance with an Ordinance Requiring the Use of Personal Flotation Devices by Children in Public Waterways

Intro: For children ages 1–14, 21.6% of drowning cases involve swimming, wading, or playing in natural bodies of water, such as rivers and lakes. Personal flotation devices (PFDs) are believed to be an effective prevention measure. We measure compliance with city and county ordinances, publicized but not actively enforced, requiring that PFDs be worn by children accessing public bodies of water in Sacramento County, California.
Conclusion: The combination of a statutory requirement and a cost-elimination strategy was associated with moderate rates of PFD use that were highest among young children.

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Injury Prevention

Development of a Data Collection Instrument for Violent Patient Encounters against Healthcare Workers

Introduction: Healthcare and social workers have the highest incidence of workplace violence of any industry. Our goal was to develop and evaluate an instrument for prospective collection of data relevant to emergency department (ED) violence against healthcare workers.

Conclusion: This survey instrument is the first tool shown to be accurate and reliable in characterizing acts of violence in the ED across all demographic and employment groups using filmed vignettes of violent acts. Gender and occupation of ED workers does not appear to play a significant role in perception of severity workplace violence.

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Injury Prevention

Descriptions of Motor Vehicle Collisions by Participants in Emergency Department–Based Studies: Are They Accurate?

We examined the accuracy of research participant characterizations of motor vehicle collisions (MVC).

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Injury Prevention

Healthcare Outcome Disparities in Trauma Care

Author Affiliation Omar K Danner, MD Department of Surgery, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia L Ray Matthews, MD Department of Surgery, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia Kenneth L Wilson, MD Department of Surgery, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia Sheryl L Heron, MD, MPH Department of Emergency Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, […]

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Injury Prevention

Suburban Poverty: Barriers to Services and Injury Prevention among Marginalized Women who Use Methamphetamine

This paper aims to identify the needed healthcare and social services barriers for women living in suburban communities who are using or have used methamphetamine. Drug users are vulnerable to injury, violence and transmission of infectious diseases, and having access to healthcare has been shown to positively influence prevention and intervention among this population. Yet little is known regarding the social context of suburban drug users, their risks behaviors, and their access to healthcare.

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Injury Prevention

Systems Thinking in Injury Prevention: An Innovative Model for Informing State and Local Policies

Author Affiliation Rachel Ferencik, MPA Georgia State University, Georgia Health Policy Center, Atlanta, GA Karen Minyard, PhD Georgia State University, Georgia Health Policy Center, Atlanta, GA Unintentional and violence-related injuries represent one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States and in the state of Georgia. In response to the […]

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Injury Prevention

Using Policy to Strengthen the Reach and Impact of Injury Prevention Efforts

Author Affiliation Monica H. Swahn, PhD, MPH Georgia State University, Institute of Public Health, Atlanta, GA Abigail Hankin, MD, MPH Emory University, Department of Emergency Medicine, Atlanta, GA Debra Houry, MD, MPH Emory University, Department of Emergency Medicine, Atlanta, GA Injury prevention and control remains a key priority in public health and medicine. Across […]

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Critical Care Injury Prevention

Competitive Wrestling-related Injuries in School Aged Athletes in U.S. Emergency Departments

To describe the characteristics of wrestling injuries occurring in male athletes aged 7–17 treated in United States (U.S.) emergency departments (ED) from 2000–2006, and to compare injury patterns between younger & older youth wrestlers.

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Injury Prevention

The Emory Center for Injury Control: Vision and Priorities for Reducing Violence and Injuries through Interdisciplinary Collaborations

Author Affiliation Debra Houry, MD, MPH Emory University, Atlanta, GA Abigail Hankin, MD, MPH Emory University, Atlanta, GA Monica H. Swahn, PhD Georgia State University, Atlanta GA Injury is the leading cause of death in the United States for persons between the ages of 1 and 441. We see evidence of the scope and […]

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Injury Prevention

Crash Injury Prediction and Vehicle Damage Reporting by Paramedics

The accuracy of pre-hospital crash scene details and crash victim assessment has important implications for initial trauma care assessment and management. Similarly, it is known to influence physician perception of crash victim injury severity. The goal of this feasibility study was to examine paramedic accuracy in predicting crash victim injury profile, disability outcome at hospital discharge, and reporting vehicle damage with other crash variables.

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Injury Prevention

Painful Red Eye

A 27-year-old man presented to the emergency department (ED) with a complaint of left eye pain and redness for three days.

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Injury Prevention

Subtalar Dislocation

A 26-year-old male presented to the emergency department for right foot pain and deformity after inverting his foot while base running playing baseball.

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Injury Prevention

Pseudoaneurysm of the Radial Artery Diagnosed by Bedside Ultrasound

A 42-year-old male presented to the emergency department with pain and swelling of his distal right wrist. Bedside ultrasound placed over the swelling revealed a pseudoaneurysm of the radial artery. The patient received percutaneous thrombin injection of the aneurysm sac followed by direct ultrasound compression therapy of the pseudoaneurysm neck, resulting in thrombosis of the sac. The use of bedside ultrasound by the emergency physician led to appropriate care and proper disposition for definitive management.

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Injury Prevention

Analysis of Urobilinogen and Urine Bilirubin for Intra-Abdominal Injury in Blunt Trauma Patients

To determine the point prevalence of urine bilirubin, urine hemoglobin and urobilinogen in blunt trauma patients, and to evaluate its utility as a screening tool for intra-abdominal injury.

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Injury Prevention

Factors Associated with Complications in Older Adults with Isolated Blunt Chest Trauma

To determine the prevalence of adverse events in elderly trauma patients with isolated blunt thoracic trauma, and to identify variables associated with these adverse events.

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Injury Prevention

Cervical Spine Motion During Extrication: A Pilot Study

Spinal immobilization is one of the most commonly performed pre-hospital procedures. Little research has been done on the movement of the neck during immobilization and extrication.

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Injury Prevention

Unexpected Arrest-Related Deaths in America: 12 Months of Open Source Surveillance

Sudden, unexpected arrest-related death (ARD) has been associated with drug abuse, extreme delirium or certain police practices. There is insufficient surveillance and causation data available. We report 12 months of surveillance data using a novel data collection methodology.

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