
Improving Asthma Referrals Following Emergency Department Evaluation
Asthma in ChildrenAsthma is the most common chronic condition among children and many children seek emergency department (ED) care. A key aspect of ED asthma management at the time of discharge is appropriate outpatient referral. Part of the challenge for ED providers is determining which patients require intensive outpatient support as ED providers often do not have the time or familiarity with the asthma guidelines to appropriately stratify asthma severity. Thus, the aim of this study is to determine whether the proportion of children referred to outpatient asthma care can be improved by incorporating a previously validated tool [the Pediatric Asthma Control and Communication Instrument for the Emergency Department (PACCI- ED)] into ED clinical care.

Impact of Video Regulation Associated With an Emergency Kit on Night Hospitalizations of the Residents...
EmergenciesOld Age; Debility1 moreThe aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of the device (emergency kit and video-medical control in emergency call centers) in reducing deep night hospitalizations of elderly people living in retirement homes.

Telepsychiatry to Enable Expedited Disposition of Psychiatric Emergencies
Psychiatric EmergencyThe goal of this observational study is to examine the effect of using a video link for evaluation of patients in the psychiatric emergency room. Under current Israeli law, the attending physician must come in to physically examine the patient before they can be admitted involuntarily. Patients often de-compensate and even may become violent while waiting for the attending to arrive. Previous studies have shown that evaluation of such patients via video-link has an extremely high concordance with in person evaluation. This study will compare patients who are evaluated via video-link with historical controls evaluated under usual conditions. This is an observational study, which is taking advantage of a change in practice to collect data on two different ways of delivering care, via chart reviews. If successful, this study will show that the video-link is feasible and acceptable to patients and staff. The following hypotheses will be tested: The intervention will result in shorter ED time compared to historical controls. The intervention will result in fewer violent incidents compared to historical controls. The intervention will result in shorter overall hospital length of stay compared to historical controls.

Virtual Reality as an Adjuvant Therapy for Sickle Cell Vaso-Occlusive Crisis in the Pediatric Emergency...
Sickle Cell CrisisVaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) is the most common complaint in patients with sickle cell disease presenting to the emergency room. VOC is most commonly treated with opioids and NSAIDs. However, new research is demonstrating that opioids in addition to virtual reality (VR) is more effective at reducing the experience of pain and pain nerve signals compared to opioids alone. Numerous research studies have demonstrated that VR reduces the experience of pain during painful medical procedures in children, such as venipuncture and burn wound dressing changes. The study aims to add VR to standard of care medical treatment for pediatric patients with sickle cell disease who present to the pediatric emergency department in VOC. Investigators will conduct a retrospective chart review of patients aged 6 to 21 years with sickle cell disease who present to the pediatric emergency department with VOC for the historical control arm. Investigators will also conduct a prospective convenient sampling of patient who receive VR plus standard medical care in patients aged 6 to 21years with sickle cell disease who present to the emergency department with VOC. Investigators hypothesize that VR, in addition to standard medical care, will reduce the experience of pain and hospital admissions compared to the historical control group (standard medical treatment).

Emergency Versus Elective Cholecystectomy in Acute Cholecystitis in the Era of Laparoscopy.
CholecystitisAcuteThe aim of study is compare outcome of patients undergoing early laparoscopic cholecystectomy within 72 hours from the begging of symptoms to those of patients managed conservatively and operated late after 6-8weeks after the inflammatory reaction has subsided.

RAFF5 Proposal: Improve the Quality and Safety of Patients Seen in the Emergency Department for...
Atrial FibrillationAtrial FlutterAcute atrial fibrillation (AF) and flutter (AFL) are the most common arrhythmias requiring management in the emergency department (ED). They are characterized by sudden onset of a rapid heart rate which may be irregular (AF) or regular (AFL). Our focus is on episodes of acute AF or AFL which are usually less than 48 hours in duration and are highly symptomatic, requiring rapid treatment in the ED. Management guidelines for acute AF/AFL have changed substantially in recent years with several recent revisions published by the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) and the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP). The 2021 CAEP Acute Atrial Fibrillation/Flutter Best Practices Checklist (CAEP Checklist) was very recently published to assist ED physicians in Canada and elsewhere manage patients who present to the ED with acute AF/AFL (Figure 1). The overall goal of this project is to improve the quality and safety of the immediate and subsequent care of patients seen in the ED with acute AF and AFL by implementing the principles of the CAEP Checklist at both The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) EDs and by working with TOH cardiologists to provide rapid cardiology follow-up processes for patients discharged from the ED. The Investigators propose a before-after cohort study using an interrupted time series design to evaluate implementation involving 720 patients at the two TOH EDs over a 24-month period.

Study of IV Ketamine for Emergency Department Treatment of Adolescent Suicidal Ideation
Suicidal IdeationApproximately 20% of Canadian adolescents experience thoughts of suicide, or suicidal ideation (SI), and suicide is the second leading cause of death among Canadians aged 15-19 years. The emergency department at CHEO sees approximately four patients per day with SI. Even though this is a medical emergency, there are no fast-acting treatments available. Ketamine is a medication that is commonly used to safely sedate children who require painful procedures in the emergency department. For nearly ten years, intravenous ketamine has also been shown to rapidly reduce SI in adults. However, ketamine as a treatment for SI has never been studied in adolescents. The primary study objective is to pilot a clinical trial that investigates intravenous ketamine to emergently treat SI in adolescents. If intravenous ketamine can relieve symptoms of SI for youth, this would have tremendous effects on patients and would dramatically change how physicians treat adolescent mental health emergencies. If ketamine is effective for several weeks, as it is in adults, it will help temporize patients until they receive more long-term psychiatric care. At the system level, it has the potential to reduce emergency visits and lengthy admissions. The investigators feel that the results of this study will be generalizable to pediatric centres across Canada and beyond.

Intermediate Normal Versus High Normal Oxygen Levels in the Emergency Department for Severe Traumatic...
Traumatic Brain InjuryAcute Respiratory Failure2 moreDespite almost universal usage of supplemental oxygen therapy in patients presenting in the emergency department with traumatic brain injury (TBI), optimal oxygen levels are unclear. The investigators propose a pilot multi-center randomized controlled trial to test the hypothesis that maintaining intermediate normal as opposed to high normal oxygen levels in patients presenting in the emergency department with TBI is feasible, and to obtain preliminary data on the efficacy of the two approaches to oxygen therapy. The aim is that the investigators produce pilot data, which could inform the design of potential subsequent larger clinical trials.

Linking Novel Diagnostics With Data-Driven Clinical Decision Support in the Emergency Department...
Inpatient HospitalizationIntensive Care Unit Admission2 moreThe primary objective of this study is to validate the use of an electronic clinical decision support (CDS) tool, TriageGO with Monocyte Distribution Width (TriageGO-MDW), in the emergency department (ED). TriageGO-MDW is non-device CDS designed to support emergency clinicians (nurses, physicians and advanced practice providers) in performing risk-based assessment and prioritization of patients during their ED visit. This study will follow an effectiveness-implementation hybrid design via the following three aims (phases), to be executed sequentially: (Aim 1) Validate the TriageGO-MDW algorithm locally using retrospective data at ED study sites. (Aim 2) Deploy TriageGO-MDW integrated with the electronic medical record (EMR) and perform user assessment. (Aim 3) Evaluate TriageGO-MDW in steady state with respect to clinical, process, and perceived utility outcomes.

Ultrasound Guided Nerve Block for Hip Fracture Pain Management at Emergency Department
Hip FracturesPain2 moreThe main objective is to determine if ultrasound guided suprainguinal iliac fascia block leads in better clinical outcomes such as pain management or time to home discharge.