New technological opportunities make it continuously easier to use medical devices anywhere, for in- and out-patient care. The technology has become mobile – and so have the patients. In-patient monitoring can be carried out wirelessly, independent of a patient’s respective location.
Over the past 10 years the use of point-of-care testing (POCT) in in European and North American hospitals has steadily increased, stimulated by the objectives of accelerating diagnostic treatment, increasing efficiency and improving patient outcomes, Cynthia E. Keen reports
Whole-body CT scans during shock room treatment of polytrauma patients are on the increase since their advantages are obvious: they are a fast and comprehensive examination that allows immediate therapy-relevant decisions.
Infusion solutions on the basis of HES (hydroxyethyl starch) are blood volume substitutes. They replace missing blood volume in patients with high blood loss, they stabilize the blood circulation and restore oxygen and nutrient supply to organs.
Experts from DEGUM, the German Society for Ultrasound in Medicine, are convinced that the use of ultrasound in preclinical and clinical emergency medicine can be further optimised, according to interim study results that indicate, in cases of unclear symptoms, the diagnosis and therefore decision for appropriate A&E treatment can be accelerated by using ultrasound.
There is little evidence on respiratory support with extracorporeal systems – enough of an argument for most of those doubting the procedure not to use it, or even make it available.
Loading high performance functions on highly portable ultrasound systems puts life-saving tools in the hands of trauma physicians, John Brosky reports.
Belgium – Last year, the annual ISICEM event attracted almost 6,000 participants from 101 countries. Its chairman, Professor Jean-Louis Vincent, from the Intensive Care Medicine Department in Erasme University Hospital, Brussels, offered EH a few reasons for its continuing success.
A UK hospital is assessing trauma patients by taking them directly for CT scans rather than to the A&E department. Piloted at King’s College Hospital, this new approach to assessing patients with life-threatening injuries aims to speed up diagnosis by conducting CT simultaneously with patient resuscitation and stabilisation.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the main cause of accidental death in Europe and all highly developed countries, accounting for around 40% of all accidental mortality.
Professor Ulrich Linsenmaier, a leading expert in emergency radiology, has highlighted the need for clinicians to read image data rapidly in an emergency department if they are to help improve clinical outcomes for polytrauma patients.
People prefer to seek medical help in public rather than private hospital
Rapid and accurate diagnosis using ultrasound has won increasing use by physicians and radiologists. The new MyLab Alpha delivers high-end performance in an easy-to-use, highly mobile system.
ACEM Medical Company, specialising in the manufacture of medical equipment, scialytic and surgical lamps, is demonstrating the following products at Medica 2012:
Ensuring the safety of hospitalised patients is vital – and brought under a particularly strong focus in anaesthesiology. Launched in 2010, the Helsinki Declaration provided a further boost. Report: Holger Zorn
The Global Sepsis Alliance (GSA) is urging healthcare providers, patients and policymakers worldwide to treat sepsis as a medical emergency. “Tens of millions of people die from sepsis each year, making it the likely leading cause of death worldwide. Sepsis kills regardless of age, ethnicity, location and access to care,” said Konrad Reinhart, M.D., Chairman of the GSA and director of the…
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the world’s biggest public health problems. In the USA, for example, about 1.7 million people sustain TBI every year, costing healthcare $76.5 billion. Yet, the public knows little of the significance of TBI and also it once received the nickname ‘silent epidemic’ by the American Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Traumatic injuries result in 800,00 deaths per year in Europe, making this one of the leading causes of mortality and the primary cause of death in patients aged 45 years old or younger. Depending on the type and severity of injury, usually trauma patients are treated by a team of experts from different disciplines.
London firm Max Medical Products Ltd is at Medica for the first time to demonstrate its quality diagnostic devices, first aid equipment and medical disposables.
Comprehensive additional training is necessary in Germany, to specialise in paediatric radiology, and only seven among the country’s 35 university hospitals provide paediatric radiology professorships. Thus, there are only about 80 specialists in this field and very few work in private practice
Medical advances learned from treating military casualties severely injured on the battlefield are helping to enhance medicine for British civilians. Mark Nicholls reports on a conference to hasten advances into the public arena.
‘We are all aware of the importance of early diagnosis and rapid appropriate treatment of patients with severe sepsis. Yet, many patients still do not receive satisfactory early management and the application of recent guidelines for sepsis management is still inadequate,’ writes Jean-Louis Vincent MD PhD, from the Intensive Care Department, Erasme Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles,…
Point of care technologies (POCT) have an important, quality enhancing, risk-reducing and cost-impacting role within the extremely time-critical medical decision structures of a central Accident and Emergency department, says Professor Wilfried von Eiff, Centre for Hospital Management, University of Muenster, Germany.
Professionals back EU-wide action on cross-border health emergencies: A new cross-border Health Security initiative should refine EU preparations for, and response to, health crises ranging from terrorist attacks to SARS epidemics, experts reported at the European Health Forum Gastein. If Europe was to be serious about facing up to major threats a real change of mind-set was of the essence,…