Chapters authored
Practice Changing Innovations for Emergency Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Resource Limited Settings
COVID-19 has affected millions worldwide. To combat the infectious pandemic in resource limited settings, healthcare workers and techies have come up with multiple innovations. Nations with scarcity of resources have resorted to innovative strategies involving optimal utilization and repurposing of available commodities to overcome the demand–supply mismatch. Emergency rooms overburdened with diseased population are resorting to local innovative ideas to overcome obstacles in COVID-19 patient care. Point of care testing strategies in emergency rooms, sampling booths to reduce Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) use, disinfection strategies such as tunnel disinfection and local production of sanitizers, face masks/shields, aerosol containment chambers, novel triage protocols, telehealth care strategies reaching out to remote population and utilizing point for care ultrasound for resuscitation are few of the novel innovations which have benefitted medical fraternity and patient care in testing times. Medical innovations have emerged as the positive outcome of otherwise devastating COVID-19 pandemic. These practice changing innovations could also prove beneficial in future infectious pandemics.
Part of the book: SARS-CoV-2 Origin and COVID-19 Pandemic Across the Globe
Pain Management in the Emergency Department – Newer Modalities and Current Perspective
Pain is one of the most common complaints and yet one of the most neglected aspects of management in the emergency department. Optimal pain management is a nuanced skill which focusses on reduction of pain to an acceptable level to allow for safe discharge and return to normal activities, in addition to improving patient satisfaction and comfort during their stay in hospital. Adequate analgesia also improves physiological parameters such as heart rate and blood pressure. The aim is improving rather than eradication of pain altogether while maintaining an acceptable level of adverse effects. This chapter will discuss assessment of pain in the emergency department along with various modalities of pain management with specific focus on newer modalities including ultrasound guided regional nerve blocks. Ultrasound guided nerve blocks are associated with better analgesia and have fewer chances of drug related adverse events, especially in older patients and those with comorbidities where large doses of systemic medications are associated with a significant risk of adverse effects.
Part of the book: Pain Management