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The Social Media Index: Measuring the Impact of Emergency Medicine and Critical Care Websites

Volume 16, Issue 2, March 2015
Brent Thoma, MD, MA et al.

The number of educational resources created for emergency medicine and critical care (EMCC) that incorporate social media has increased dramatically. With no way to assess their impact or quality, it is challenging for educators to receive scholarly credit and for learners to identify respected resources. The Social Media index (SMi) was developed to help address this.

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Evaluation of a New Nonnvasive Device in Determining Hemoglobin Levels in Emergency Department Patients

Introduction: The objective of this study is to determine the degree of variation between the device’s estimated hemoglobin measurement and the actual venous hemoglobin concentration in undifferentiated emergency department (ED) patients.
Conclusion: These data suggest that noninvasive hemoglobin determination is not sufficiently accurate for emergency department use.

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Rapid 13C Urea Breath Test to Identify Helicobacter pylori Infection in Emergency Department Patients with Upper Abdominal Pain

Introduction: We sought to estimate the prevalence of H. pylori infection in symptomatic patients using a convenience sample at a single urban academic ED and demonstrate the feasibility of ED-based testing.
Conclusion: In our ED, H. pylori infection was present in 1 in 4 patients with epigastric pain, and testing with a UBT was feasible. Further study is needed to determine the risk factors associated with infection, the prevalence of H. pylori in other EDs, the effect of the test on ED length of stay and the costeffectiveness of an ED-based test-and-treat strategy.

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Are Simulation Stethoscopes a Useful Adjunct for Emergency Residents’ Training on High-fidelity Mannequins?

Introduction: Residents frequently criticize simulation training using current high-fidelity mannequins due to the poor quality of physical exam findings present, such as auscultatory findings, as it may lead them down an alternate diagnostic or therapeutic pathway.
Conclusion: A simulation stethoscope may be a useful adjunct to current emergency medicine simulation-based training. Residents both preferred the use of the simulation stethoscope and perceived physical exam findings to be more realistic, leading to improved fidelity.

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Unusual Cause of Cardiac Compression in a Trauma Patient: Cystic Thymoma

A 29-year-old man with sudden onset of dyspnea and chest pain with impairment of the general status after falling down from five meters was transferred to our emergency department. He was completely asymptomatic before the injury, but hypotensive (80/50 mmHg) and tachycardic (112 beats/minute) after the injury. Chest radiograph revealed a bulging cardiac silhouette on the right paracardiac region with an increased cardiothoracic ratio of 70%.

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Contact Information

WestJEM/ Department of Emergency Medicine
UC Irvine Health

3800 W Chapman Ave Ste 3200
Orange, CA 92868, USA
Phone: 1-714-456-6389
Email: editor@westjem.org

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WestJEM
ISSN: 1936-900X
e-ISSN: 1936-9018

CPC-EM
ISSN: 2474-252X

Our Philosophy

Emergency Medicine is a specialty which closely reflects societal challenges and consequences of public policy decisions. The emergency department specifically deals with social injustice, health and economic disparities, violence, substance abuse, and disaster preparedness and response. This journal focuses on how emergency care affects the health of the community and population, and conversely, how these societal challenges affect the composition of the patient population who seek care in the emergency department. The development of better systems to provide emergency care, including technology solutions, is critical to enhancing population health.