To determine the perceptions of health care professionals and service providers with regard to emergency department (ED) overcrowding, including definitions of overcrowding, characteristics of an overcrowded ED, and causes of overcrowding, and secondarily to solicit potential solutions to the problem.

Focus groups were conducted with front-line staff, physicians and managers from 7 EDs within an integrated health region. Participants received questions before the sessions, and an experienced moderator conducted the sessions and prepared transcripts from audio tapes. Analyses included identification of key themes and the interrelationships between those themes.

Focus group participants defined service pressures that result in overcrowding as “anything that impedes the flow of patients through the ED, affects the quality of care delivered or results in patient frustration and stress to staff.” Overcrowding, which can occur at any time of the day, was perceived to have many causes, including some seasonal factors. Two key problems were identified as causing many spin-off pressures: inefficient access to ED beds (stretchers) because of slow throughput of patients and staff shortages. Other perceived causes included the changing role and use of EDs and limited access to services such as home care, diagnostic imaging, laboratory services, social services and specialist care. Participants generally believed that the characteristics and causes of overcrowding could not be viewed independently; rather, in the search for remedies, they should be considered as interrelated variables.

Qualitative studies of this complex issue can identify and describe complex interactions in real-world settings. The findings of such studies can lead to quantitative studies involving objective measurement.

Triage reliability studies typically use hypothetical scenarios and weighted kappa scores where agreement within one level is considered satisfactory. But if triage category is used to help define ED case-mix groups for comparative or benchmarking processes, agreement on exact triage level and major system involved is important. Our hypothesis was that a computerized menu that links presenting complaints to preferred triage levels (PC-linked triage) would provide high triage reliability.

Our objective was to assess inter-rater reliability of PC-linked triage using the Canadian Emergency Department Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS) in a real-time clinical setting, considering agreement on exact triage level and primary body system involved.

On duty triage nurses entered patient presenting complaint and PC-linked triage level as per standard procedure. In a convenience sample of patients, a second nurse, blinded to triage assignment, observed the triage interaction and independently entered presenting complaint and triage level on a dummy terminal.

During the study, 15 nurse pairs triaged 266 patients. Study patients matched actual emergency department case mix closely. Triage nurses agreed exactly in 74% of cases and within one level in 94% of cases. The unweighted kappa value was 0.66 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.60–0.73) and the quadratic weighted kappa value was 0.75 (95% CI, 0.68–0.81). Kappa for agreement on major system involved was 0.80 (95% CI, 0.69–0.91).

PC-linked triage has high inter-rater reliability in a real-time clinical setting. PC-linked triage may be useful as one factor in defining case-mix groups for benchmarking and comparative purposes.

Previous studies have demonstrated that antidotes are insufficiently stocked in Canadian and US health care facilities. The purpose of this study was to determine the adequacy of antidote stocking in British Columbia hospitals based on the current guidelines.

A written survey was mailed to hospital pharmacy directors at all 93 acute care facilities in BC. Availability of 14 essential antidotes was classified as sufficient or insufficient based on the current guidelines. Facilities were stratified into small (<50 beds), medium (50–250 beds) or large (>250 beds); teaching or non-teaching; trauma or non-trauma, urban or rural, and isolated or non-isolated.

Complete responses were received from 75 (81%) of 93 hospitals. No hospital had adequate stock of all 14 antidotes. Overall, the average number (± standard deviation) of antidotes adequately stocked was 4.2 ± 2.9 per hospital. Urban hospitals had adequate stocks of 6.5 ± 2.6 antidotes while rural centres had adequate stocks of 2.6 ± 1.8 (p < 0.001). Corresponding figures were 9.0 ± 1.8 for teaching hospitals vs. 3.7 ± 2.4 for non-teaching hospitals (p < 0.001), 8.9 ± 2.0 for trauma centres vs. 3.8 ± 2.5 non-trauma centres (p < 0.001), and 2.5 ± 2.1 for isolated hospitals vs. 4.6 ± 2.9 for non-isolated hospitals (p = 0.018). Small, medium, and large hospitals adequately stocked 2.3 ± 1.7, 5.7 ± 2.2, and 7.7 ± 3.0 antidotes, respectively (p < 0.001). The 4 antidotes most adequately stocked were sodium bicarbonate (77%), N-acetylcysteine (64%), ethanol (49%) and naloxone (47%). Digoxin immune Fab fragments, glucagon, pyridoxine and rattlesnake antivenin were poorly stocked with sufficient supplies of 5%, 7%, 7% and 13%, respectively.

BC hospitals do not have adequate antidote stocks. Provincial stocking guidelines and coordination of antidote purchasing and stocking are necessary to correct these deficiencies.

Buckle fractures are the most common wrist fractures in children, yet there is little literature regarding their management. This study examined the management of these fractures and attitudes toward their immobilization by pediatric emergency department (ED) physicians and pediatric orthopedic surgeons.

A standardized survey was mailed to all pediatric orthopedic surgeons and pediatric ED physicians at 8 Canadian children’s hospitals.

Eighty-seven percent of physicians responded, including 33 of 39 pediatric orthopedic surgeons and 84 of 96 pediatric ED physicians. Sixty-four percent of respondents believe that wrist buckle fractures always need to be immobilized; pain control was most frequently cited for this belief. Physicians who did not believe that all buckle fractures need to be immobilized indicated that these fractures are inherently stable and have a low risk of refracture. Forty-eight percent of the orthopedic surgeons prefer below-elbow casts, 30% prefer a combination (splint and cast) and 12% prefer backslabs. Sixty percent of ED physicians “usually or always” use casts and 31% “usually or always” use backslabs. Although there was variation among the orthopedic surgeons regarding the recommended length of immobilization, most (70%) recommended 2 to 4 weeks, although some (12%) treated only until pain free. ED physicians showed greater diversity regarding length of immobilization.

Although many physicians believe that wrist buckle fractures need to be immobilized, a significant number do not. There is substantial variability in the type and length of immobilization used. This variability suggests that the optimal management strategy for wrist buckle fractures is unclear and should be determined in future prospective studies.

We previously reported that 25% (108/441) of consecutive patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) of the Montreal Heart Institute with a chief complaint of chest pain suffered from panic disorder (PD). The purpose of the present study was to re-examine these patients (with and without PD) 2 years after their initial ED visit to determine their psychiatric and psychosocial status.

An interviewer, who was kept blind to patients’ initial medical and psychiatric diagnoses, attempted to contact all patients who participated in the initial study by phone. Patients who completed the phone interview were sent a battery of psychological questionnaires by mail.

A total of 301 (70%) patients completed the phone interview, and 228 (52%) patients completed the self-report questionnaires. Participants and non-participants did not differ with respect to age, gender, initial self-report scores, or initial cardiac or psychiatric diagnoses. At follow-up, significantly (p < 0.05) more PD+ than non-PD (PD–) patients reported: 1) chest pains in the last month (57% vs. 31%); 2) one or more ED consultations in the past year for chest pain (40% vs. 14%); 3) one or more hospitalizations in the past year (31% vs. 11%); and 4) perceiving their general health as “poor” (22% vs. 9%). PD+ patients displayed a significant (p < 0.05) worsening of their panic symptoms, agoraphobic avoidance, depression, and trait anxiety, and reported significantly (p < 0.05) greater suicidal ideation compared to PD– patients (32% vs. 9%). Of all PD+ patients, only 22% (18/82) reported receiving some form of mental health treatment for their symptoms.

Unrecognized and untreated PD has a chronic and disabling course. Greater efforts should be made to screen for PD in patients complaining of chest pain in EDs.

To compare the diagnostic accuracy of emergency department (ED) physicians with the World Health Organization (WHO) case definition in a large community-based SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) cohort.

This was a cohort study of all patients from Hong Kong’s Amoy Garden complex who presented to an ED SARS screening clinic during a 2-month outbreak. Clinical findings and WHO case definition criteria were recorded, along with ED diagnoses. Final diagnoses were established independently based on relevant diagnostic tests performed after the ED visit. Emergency physician diagnostic accuracy was compared with that of the WHO SARS case definition. Sensitivity, specificity, predictive values and likelihood ratios were calculated using standard formulae.

During the study period, 818 patients presented with SARS-like symptoms, including 205 confirmed SARS, 35 undetermined SARS and 578 non-SARS. Sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were 91%, 96% and 94% for ED clinical diagnosis, versus 42%, 86% and 75% for the WHO case definition. Positive likelihood ratios (LR+) were 21.1 for physician judgement and 3.1 for the WHO criteria. Negative likelihood ratios (LR–) were 0.10 for physician judgement and 0.67 for the WHO criteria, indicating that clinician judgement was a much more powerful predictor than the WHO criteria.

Physician clinical judgement was more accurate than the WHO case definition. Reliance on the WHO case definition as a SARS screening tool may lead to an unacceptable rate of misdiagnosis. The SARS case definition must be revised if it is to be used as a screening tool in emergency departments and primary care settings.