Background: Whether the pandemic caused an increase in the number of home accidents (HA) admitted to the pediatric emergency department (PED) was investigated. Applications in a similar quarter in 2019 and 2020 were compared. Methods: The study was retrospective. Their demographic data, the reason for admission to the hospital, the time of admission, the length of hospital stay, intensive care rate, and interventional procedures were recorded. The two groups were compared to find whether there was any difference. Results: There were 700 and 597 admissions for specified reasons during the specified period in 2019 and 2020, respectively. In 2019, 9.46% of all cases admitted to the PED were HA whereas the rate was 24.43% in 2020. The male/female ratios were similar (p=0.520). The median age in 2020 (36 months) was significantly higher than that in 2019 (33 months) (p=0.010). The main clinical presentations also differed significantly. The incidence of falls, the gastric/intestinal foreign bodies, and the penetrating stab injuries were significantly higher in those in 2020 (p<0.001). Significant differences were also found regarding diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. During the specified period in 2019, 623 patients (89.5%) were discharged from the PED. The rate of discharge in 2020 (84.9%) was significantly lower. Also, there were significantly more hospitalizations in other wards in 2020 than those in 2019 (3.7% vs. 1.0%) (p=0.004). Conclusion: The Covid-19 pandemic caused an increase in the number of HAs cases admitted to the PED relative to all hospital admissions. The most common type of accident was falls, as in the non-pandemic period. The pandemic caused delays in accessing healthcare services, especially for critically ill patients, more frequent hospitalizations, and a decrease in the rate of discharge from the PED.

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Aim of the study Successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation and early defibrillation are critical in survival after in‐ or out‐of‐hospital cardiopulmonary arrest. The scope of this multi‐centre study is to (a) assess skills of paediatric healthcare providers (HCPs) concerning two domains: (1) recognising rhythm abnormalities and (2) the use of defibrillator devices, and (b) to evaluate the impact of certified basic‐life‐support (BLS) and advanced‐life‐support (ALS) training to offer solutions for quality of improvement in several paediatric emergency cares and intensive care settings of Turkey. Methods This cross‐sectional and multi‐centre survey study included several paediatric emergency care and intensive care settings from different regions of Turkey. Results A total of 716 HCPs participated in the study (physicians: 69.4%, healthcare staff: 30.6%). The median age was 29 (27‐33) years. Certified BLS‐ALS training was received in 61% (n = 303/497) of the physicians and 45.2% (n = 99/219) of the non‐physician healthcare staff (P < .001). The length of professional experience had favourable outcome towards an increased self‐confidence in the physicians (P < .01, P < .001). Both physicians and non‐physician healthcare staff improved their theoretical knowledge in the practice of synchronised cardioversion defibrillation (P < .001, P < .001). Non‐certified healthcare providers were less likely to manage the initial doses of synchronised cardioversion and defibrillation: the correct responses remained at 32.5% and 9.2% for synchronised cardioversion and 44.8% and 16.7% for defibrillation in the physicians and healthcare staff, respectively. The indications for defibrillation were correctly answered in the physicians who had acquired a certificate of BLS‐ALS training (P = .047, P = .003). Conclusions The professional experience is significant in the correct use of a defibrillator and related procedures. Given the importance of early defibrillation in survival, the importance and proper use of defibrillators should be emphasised in Certified BLS‐ALS programmes. Certified BLS‐ALS programmes increase the level of knowledge and self‐confidence towards synchronised cardioversion‐defibrillation procedures.

U ltrasonography is a good screening tool in adult trauma patients. It is an easy-touse, portable, noninvasive, inexpensive imaging method that does not cause ionizing radiation and allows repeated measurement at the bedside. 1 Focused assessment with sonography for trauma (FAST) is a part of resuscitation of trauma patients. The extended FASTexamination (E-FAST) is used when chest views are added to evaluate for pneumothorax.According to the Advanced Trauma LETTER TO THE EDITORS