"The way we like to do high-quality studies requires a randomized, double-blinded control study," he says, "and studies of unpredictable emergencies are very, very difficult to evaluate in that way".
Maternity departments are busy places, the work is unpredictable and emergencies happen with frightening speed.
The hospital's flight paramedics, meanwhile, have to be ready with unpredictable medical emergencies and a sometimes radically ferocious climate at the same time.
(This statistic includes the chance of unpredictable financial emergencies in which those in need turn to payday lenders to bail them out at huge interest rates―50% of Americans need to borrow money for emergencies costing over $400).
However, other physical exposures are probably also relevant because of the unpredictable nature of emergency service work.
However, repeated case studies have shown that elective admissions are often the major cause of variation as they are more unpredictable than the emergency admissions [ 6, 7].
The unique situation of having a high proportion of difficult airways and an unpredictable environment affords the emergency physician the opportunity to become an expert in emergency and difficult airway management.
Predicting which patients will fall is a challenging task, especially in the often unpredictable setting of an emergency department of a Level I Trauma Center.
Unlike some big natural hazards (floods, hurricanes, tropical storms and tsunamis) that are predictable, a variety of small emergencies are unpredictable.
