Emergency medicine: An untilled field of public health

Alcohol‐related presentations to the Royal Perth Hospital Emergency Department: A prospective study

“…5 It has been suggested that previous research has underestimated alcohol harms presenting to EDs. 6 In the present study, we report the results from RPH ED, which had the highest proportion of ARH in the AHED study. In December 2014, Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) ED was one of eight EDs in Australia and NZ participating in the Alcohol Harm in Emergency Departments (AHED) study.…”

Emergency departments and alcohol: The perpetual hangover

“…Successive ACEM strategic plans, following extensive consultation with members and stakeholders, are committed to patient advocacy through proactive strategy, established positions on health reform, improvement agenda and resource stewardship as well as through research . Associate Professor Egerton‐Warburton and Professor Fulde in their articles in this series further demonstrate the fruits of such strategic labour to date …”

“…Such attribution is not isolated to Australasia, with alcohol‐related harm ranking as the third leading cause of disability in high‐income countries . To emergency service providers, the consequences are evident, and has provided motivation to assist governments to legislate change . The collateral damage from such harm has also been well documented, affecting not only the patient and their families, but also the emergency workers who are often in the direct line of fire .…”

“…3 To emergency service providers, the consequences are evident, and has provided motivation to assist governments to legislate change. [4][5][6] The collateral damage from such harm has also been well documented, affecting not only the patient and their families, but also the emergency workers who are often in the direct line of fire. 6 Given the wide ranging impact of alcohol-related harm, it is essential that the drive to change is not reliant on select individuals, economists or politicians, but comes from the entire emergency community, and society at large.…”

An example of public health training in emergency medicine

“…These interactions broadly occur over four key domains: injury and disease surveillance, healthcare access, preventive care and advocacy . Specific examples include trauma registries and their contributions to injury prevention, the sentinel role of EDs in communicable disease surveillance, EDs’ centrality in responding to public health disasters such as pandemic influenza, advocacy in issues such as alcohol‐related harm, and ED‐based health promotion and preventive care . These expanding roles reflect the unique and critical position that EDs occupy on the public health landscape, that is, at a major intersection of many components of the healthcare and social systems.…”