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According to a recent Closed Claims Analysis, airway management problems arose during induction in 67% of cases, and involved difficult intubation in 6% of patients. The incidence of Cannot Intubate-Cannot Oxygenate (CICO) is low, occurring in 1 in 3200 cases in the operating room and in 1 in 500 case in the Emergency Department, according to some studies. Early establishment of a safe surgical airway is vital in a CICO patient.

Mass casualty incidents (MCIs) represent one of the most difficult prehospital challenges faced by medical personnel. When they occur at sea, this challenge may be further complicated by isolation, distance, vessel structure, number of passengers, and limited evacuation means.

BackgroundIn many countries there is a gap between the clinical evidence for cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention and implementation in clinical practice. Inadequate control of cardiovascular risk factors and underutilization of aspirin, statins, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and ?-blockers are well-established examples. The optimal approach to implementation of CVD prevention in clinical practice is still under debate. The screening and monitoring (SaM) approach is based on cyclic monitoring and individual treatment of patients with cardiovascular risk factors in the primary care setting. After achieving improvements in risk factor levels and in the use of preventive medications in a pilot study, it was decided to test the efficacy of this approach in a larger population at risk.MethodsFive primary care clinics adopted the SaM approach. A total of 1622 patients with established CVD, diabetes mellitus or hypertension were assessed by their family physicians for cardiovascular risk factors and use of medications for cardiovascular risk reduction. Interventions were made according to accepted clinical guidelines. Cardiovascular risk factor levels and the use of medications for CVD prevention were retrospectively analyzed.ResultsThe results demonstrated significant reductions in blood pressure, hemoglobin A1cand low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels, as well as significant increases in the use of medications for CVD prevention.ConclusionA systematic approach to CVD reduction, with an emphasis on multiple risk factor assessment and use of preventive medications in patients at cardiovascular risk, yielded significant improvements in measures of the quality of preventive care.

The objective of this study was to assess the correlation between patients' view of the consultation and the assessment of an auditing physician on the same consultation.