Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://ahro.austin.org.au/austinjspui/handle/1/23510
Title: Thunderstorm asthma medication management during an external emergency (Code Brown): An observational study of the impact of electronic prescribing and clinical documentation.
Austin Authors: Anderson, Brett J;Harding, Andrew M ;Taylor, Simone E ;O'Keefe, Caitlan
Affiliation: Pharmacy Department, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia
Department of Emergency Medicine, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia
Pharmacy Department, Alfred Hospital, Prahran, VIC, Australia
Issue Date: Dec-2020
Date: 2020-06-06
Publication information: Australasian Emergency Care 2021; 23(4): 259-264
Abstract: On 21 November 2016, during a thunderstorm asthma event, an external disaster was called in our Emergency Department (ED), the first since comprehensive implementation of electronic clinical documentation. This study compared medication ordering and administration documentation during surge (thunderstorm asthma) and non-surge (control) conditions. Retrospective audit of ED patients presenting with asthma between 21 and 23 November 2016 (72-h thunderstorm asthma period) and equivalent 72-h periods of the preceding three weeks (control period). Demographic details, medical history and treatment were extracted from Cerner Millennium. During the thunderstorm asthma and control periods, 318 and 164 patients presented with respiratory symptoms; 302 (95.0%) and 27 (16.5%) were due to asthma, respectively. Salbutamol was ordered and administration signed on the Medication Administration Record for 122/302 (40.4%) thunderstorm asthma and 21/27 (77.8%) control patients (p<0.01). During the thunderstorm asthma period, 52/302 (17.2%) patients had no documentation on the Medication Administration Record or any ED notes of receiving salbutamol, whilst during the control periods 2/27 (7.4%) patients had no such documentation. Similar disparities with corticosteroids and ipratropium were identified. Quality of medication documentation declined during surge conditions. These data have informed policies for future surge events, when higher risk medications might be required.
URI: https://ahro.austin.org.au/austinjspui/handle/1/23510
DOI: 10.1016/j.auec.2020.05.002
ORCID: 0000-0002-0592-518X
Journal: Australasian Emergency Care
PubMed URL: 32518037
Type: Journal Article
Subjects: Asthma
Disaster planning
Electronic prescribing
Emergency service
Health care
Health information management
Hospital
Quality assurance
Appears in Collections:Journal articles

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