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Objectives: The objective was to compare the predictive performance of three previously derived cranial computed tomography (CT) rules, the Canadian CT Head Rule (CCHR), the New Orleans Criteria (NOC), and National Emergency X-Ray Utilization Study (NEXUS)-II, for detecting clinically important traumatic brain injury (TBI) and the need for neurosurgical intervention in patients with blunt head trauma.Methods: This was a prospective, multicenter, observational cohort study of patients with blunt head trauma from June 2008 to May 2009. The historical and physical examination components of the CCHR, NOC, and NEXUS-II were documented on a data collection form and the performance of each of the three rules was compared. Patient eligibility for each specific rule was defined exactly as previously described for each specific rule. To compare the three decision rules in terms of sensitivity and specificity, an intersection cohort satisfying inclusion criteria of all three decision rules was derived. The primary outcome was clinically important TBI, and the secondary outcome was neurosurgical intervention. The sensitivity and specificity of each rule were calculated with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). We also calculated the potential reduction rate in cranial CT scan utilization realized by theoretical implementation of these rules.Results: A total of 7,131 patients were prospectively enrolled, including 692 (9.7%) with clinical TBI. Among the enrolled population, patients eligible for CCHR, NOC, and NEXUS-II totaled 696, 677, and 2,951, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity for clinically important brain injury were as follows: CCHR, 112 of 144 (79.2%, 95% CI = 70.8% to 86.0%) and 228 of 552 (41.3%, 95% CI = 37.3% to 45.5%); NOC, 91 of 99 (91.9%, 95% CI = 84.7% to 96.5%) and 125 of 558 (22.4%, 95% CI = 19.0% to 26.1%); and NEXUS-II, 511 of 576 (88.7%, 95% CI = 85.8% to 91.2%) and 1,104 of 2,375 (46.5%, 95% CI = 44.5% to ª

We aimed to know the risk-stratification-based prevalence of bacterial contamination of ambulance vehicle surfaces, equipment, and materials. This study was performed in a metropolitan area with fire-based single-tiered Basic Life Support ambulances. Total 13 out of 117 ambulances (11.1%) were sampled and 33 sites per each ambulance were sampled using a soft rayon swab and aseptic containers. These samples were then plated onto a screening media of blood agar and MacConkey agar. Specific identification with antibiotic susceptibility was performed. We categorized sampling sites into risk stratification-based groups (Critical, Semi-critical, and Non-critical equipment) related to the likelihood of direct contact with patients' mucosa. Total 214 of 429 samples showed positive results (49.9%) for any bacteria. Four of these were pathogenic (0.9%) (MRSA, MRCoNS, and K. pneumoniae), and 210 of these were environmental flora (49.0%). However, the prevalence (positive/number of sample) of bacterial contamination in critical, semi-critical airway, semi-critical breathing apparatus group was as high as 15.4% (4/26), 30.7% (16/52), and 46.2% (48/104), respectively. Despite current formal guidelines, critical and semi-critical equipments were contaminated with pathogens and normal flora. This study suggests the need for strict infection control and prevention for ambulance services.

The shock index (SI), modified shock index (MSI), and age multiplied by SI (Age SI) are used to assess the severity and predict the mortality of trauma patients, but their validity for geriatric patients is controversial. The purpose of this investigation was to assess predictive value of the SI, MSI, and Age SI for geriatric trauma patients. We used the Emergency Department-based Injury In-depth Surveillance (EDIIS), which has data from 20 EDs across Korea. Patients older than 65 years who had traumatic injuries from January 2008 to December 2013 were enrolled. We compared in-hospital and ED mortality of groups categorized as stable and unstable according to indexes. We also assessed their predictive power of each index by calculating the area under the each receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve. A total of 45,880 cases were included. The percentage of cases classified as unstable was greater among non-survivors than survivors for the SI (36.6% vs. 1.8%, P < 0.001), the MSI (38.6% vs. 2.2%, P < 0.001), and the Age SI (69.4% vs. 21.3%, P < 0.001). Non-survivors had higher median values than survivors on the SI (0.84 vs. 0.57, P < 0.001), MSI (0.79 vs. 1.14, P < 0.001), and Age SI (64.0 vs. 41.5, P < 0.001). The predictive power of the Age SI for in-hospital mortality was higher than SI (AUROC: 0.740 vs. 0.674, P < 0.001) or MSI (0.682, P < 0.001) in geriatric trauma patients.