Editor's Note An 8-minute module can be deployed in clinical and nonclinical settings to train a large workforce in hemorrhage control, this study finds. In response to active shooter and mass casualty incidents, researchers at UnityPoint Health, Des Moines, Iowa, wanted to see if they could take important information from…

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Editor's Note Communication patterns and needs vary between members of the surgical team and by specialty during simulated operative emergencies, and the effect of directed communication in eliciting a response (ie, closed loop communication) depends on the clinical status of the patient, finds this study. Surgeons and nurses initiated fewer…

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Editor's Note The Surgical Apgar Score (SAS) was found to be significantly predictive but weakly discriminative for major complications and death after emergency high-risk abdominal surgery in this study. The risk of major complications, death, and ICU admission increased significantly with decreasing SAS (P < .001). The score’s c-statistics were…

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Editor's Note A new training model at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospitals improved cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training in emergency room nurses, finds this study presented November 15 at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2016. Quarterly training sessions using mobile simulation stations for 1 year led to improved…

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Editor's Note The American College of Surgeons (ACS) and the Hartford Consensus on September 16 announced the launch of a new website designed to assist the public and first responders in the event of a mass casualty or other bleeding control emergency. The website, BleedingControl.org, contains diagrams, videos, and other…

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Editor's Note Patients in rural hospitals are significantly (14%) more likely than nonrural patients to die after traumatic injuries, this study finds. The disparity was greatest for injuries occurring in the South and Midwest and for cases with an injury severity score of <9 or unknown severity. Distance and time…

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It was shortly after 2 am on Sunday, June 12. Ambulances, trucks, and cars started arriving at Orlando Regional Medical Center (ORMC) loaded with shooting victims from a terrorist attack at the Pulse nightclub. Because ORMC was just a couple of blocks from the nightclub, first responders loaded multiple victims…

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Terrorist incidents are increasingly frequent, and most US healthcare facilities have established mass casualty protocols to make sure they are prepared. Although treating large numbers of injured patients simultaneously is still the exception rather than the rule, many urban facilities regularly receive gunshot victims. A recent example of receiving multiple…

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Healthcare facilities are places of healing. Sometimes they also can be places of danger and death—just like the rest of the world. When an ambulatory surgery center (ASC) became the site of a fatal stabbing 3 years ago, outpatient surgery leapt into the public eye, and not in a good…

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Editor's Note An American College of Surgeons (ACS)-sponsored resolution to train more professional (ie, police, firefighters) and civilian first responders in the techniques of bleeding control and to place bleeding control kits with the responders was approved June 14 by the American Medical Association House of Delegates, ACS says in…

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