Planning for the worst: OR director shares lessons from the Gulf Coast
How would your OR manage if the hospital was on emergency power for 3 days, there was no running water, and supplies were dwindling? You didn’t know when help would arrive. Still, sick and injured...
View ArticleNation’s emergency care a ticking time bomb’
Economic woes and a failing health care system mean more people than ever are relying on emergency care. But emergency physicians give the country a C- for its support for emergency resources....
View ArticleSurgery by flashlight as Joplin team operates through tornado
It started out as a typical Sunday morning on call—a 7:30 am C section, home for a nap, then a call-back at 3 pm for orthopedic cases. But that Sunday, May 22, 2011, turned out to be anything but...
View ArticleERs, ORs respond for multiple victims of Colorado shootings
A call came over the radio at 12:30 am on July 20, 2012. There had been a shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, with the potential for multiple victims. Emergency department staff at the...
View ArticleTrauma center’s mortality rate drops dramatically with use of new protocols
Trauma events occur every 5 minutes in the United States, and 30% of trauma patients die within 120 minutes of the event because of major organ injuries that lead to heavy blood loss. Better outcomes...
View ArticleSurgeons call for community response to mass casualty incidents
Shooting incidents are occurring throughout the US with increasing and alarming frequency. Among those in late 2013: the Washington, DC, Navy Yard on September 16—12 dead, 3 injured before the gunman...
View ArticlePreparing for disaster: Boston hospitals know the drill but keep practicing
In the days after the Boston Marathon bombing on April 15, 2013, many praised the way the city’s hospitals responded to the attack. But clinicians in those hospitals aren’t resting on their laurels....
View ArticleFormer OR Manager of the Year directs team at Nebraska biocontainment unit
Two OR nurses are part of a diverse team that cares for Ebola patients at the Nebraska Biocontainment Patient Care Unit in Omaha, and the team’s nursing director is Shelly Schwedhelm, MSN, RN, a former...
View ArticleReducing emergency surgical procedures could save $1 billion
New research shows that even a modest 10% reduction in the proportion of emergency surgical procedures for three common conditions could save nearly $1 billion over 10 years. The study also showed More...
View ArticleChecklists help staff keep cool in the heat of an OR crisis
An emergency situation in the OR can rattle even the most experienced surgeons, anesthesiologists, and staff. To help reduce anxiety and prompt a more effective response to emergencies, clinicians...
View ArticleColon procedures top list of worst emergency general surgery outcomes
Importance Emergency general surgery (EGS) represents 11% of surgical admissions and 50% of surgical mortality in the United States. However, there is currently no established definition of the EGS...
View ArticleAlgorithm improves motor vehicle crash victim triage
Editor’s Note An algorithm that uses vehicle telemetry measurements can improve the guidance of motor vehicle victims to the most appropriate place for care, this study finds. The algorithm is a...
View ArticleOrlando surgeons, OR staff saved dozens of lives
The first victim of the nightclub shooting arrived shortly after 2 a.m. and was relatively stable, giving doctors working the overnight shift hope that any others would arrive in a similar condition....
View ArticleResolution approved to provide more bleeding control training, kits
ACS-sponsored resolution to enlarge the pool of trained responders who can render assistance to victims of mass casualty events and to provide bleeding control kits is approved by AMA House of...
View ArticleFatal attacks at ASCs spur stronger safety measures
Healthcare facilities are places of healing. Sometimes they also can be places of danger and death—just like the rest of the world. When an ambulatory surgery center (ASC) became the site of a fatal...
View ArticleEditorial
A recent example of receiving multiple patients at once is Orlando Regional Medical Center, where victims of the June 12 mass shooting were treated. Staff who spoke with OR Manager seemed to take the...
View ArticleTeamwork key to survival of Orlando shooting victims
It was shortly after 2 am on Sunday, June 12. Ambulances, trucks, and cars started arriving at Orlando Regional Medical Center (ORMC) loaded with shooting victims from a terrorist attack at the Pulse...
View ArticleRural patients have higher trauma mortality
Barriers to trauma care for rural populations are well documented, but little is known about the magnitude of urban-rural disparities in injury mortality. This study sought to quantify differences in...
View ArticleACS launches new website on bleeding control
Editor’s Note The American College of Surgeons (ACS) and the Hartford Consensus on September 16 announced the launch of a new website designed to assist the public and first responders in the event of...
View ArticleFrequent simulation-based training improves CPR proficiency
NEW ORLEANS - A new training model improved CPR skills in a clinical setting, according to research presented during the Resuscitation Science Symposium at the American Heart Association's Scientific...
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