Emergency Medicine News

A screening tool for adolescents presenting to pediatric EDs can effectively identify those with alcohol and cannabis use disorders, according to research published in The Journal of Pediatrics. However, the screening tool was most effective in identifying those with cannabis use disorders.

In 2015, WHO put a challenge to the medical and research community: reduce malaria incidence and mortality rates by 90%, eliminate malaria in at least 35 countries and prevent a resurgence of malaria in malaria-free countries, all by 2030. But despite progress in prevention and control tools, cases of illness and death related to malaria remain high in many areas and the burden is highest among young children.

The rate of foreign body ingestions among young children presenting to EDs throughout the United States nearly doubled in about 20 years, according to findings published in Pediatrics. Children were most likely to swallow pennies and button batteries, researchers said.

Researchers have identified a surge in the number of American children presenting to EDs who have considered or attempted suicide. They estimated that the number of ED visits nearly doubled between 2007 and 2015.

After 32 sleep-related deaths were linked to the use of the Fisher-Price Rock ‘n Play Sleeper between 2011 and 2018, the AAP has strongly recommended that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, or CPSC, immediately recall the inclined sleeper.

The most recent CDC data show an estimated 329,290 children were treated in United States for sports and recreation-related injuries that included a diagnosis of concussion or traumatic brain injury.

Many teens and young adults who present to EDs and other health care facilities for poisonings after hookah or waterpipe use have signs and symptoms similar to those seen with carbon monoxide poisoning, according to findings published in the Journal of Adolescent Health. Although many were not tested for carbon monoxide, blood tests revealed levels as high as 35%.

The FDA recently granted marketing authorization to Thornhill Research’s ClearMate device that assists in treating patients with carbon monoxide poisoning, according to an FDA press release.

Pediatric sports- and recreation-related traumatic brain injuries, or SRR-TBIs, cause more than 280,000 visits to EDs throughout the United States, according to researchers from the CDC. Nearly half of these SRR-TBIs are caused by contact sports.

A recent MMWR highlighted the care needed for a young, unvaccinated boy infected with tetanus. His inpatient care spanned 57 days, 47 of which were spent in an ICU, and it cost more than $800,000.