https://medicalxpress.com/emergency-medicine-news/ en-us Latest medical news and research in Emergency medicine When temperatures spike, emergency physicians expect to see more cases of dehydration and heatstroke. But a new Northwestern University study suggests that extreme heat also is linked to a much wider range of health problems seen in emergency departments and urgent care clinics, including skin conditions, multiple sclerosis and even injuries from traffic accidents. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-extreme-linked-dehydration-heatstroke.html Wed, 26 Aug 2026 14:00:06 EDT news706880307 Venomous snake bites can cause illness, disability and death in tropical and subtropical regions. A study published Aug. 25 in PLOS Medicine by Dileepa Ediriweera and Anuradhani Kasturuiratne, along with colleagues at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK, and the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, suggests that the incidence of snake envenoming and snakebite mortality is much higher than previously estimated. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-global-snakebite-envenoming-mortality-incidence.html Tue, 25 Aug 2026 14:00:15 EDT news706797239 Patients diagnosed with conditions after an emergency hospital admission or an emergency room visit face a higher risk of death than those diagnosed in nonemergency settings, according to a large population-based study by Emma Whitfield and colleagues from University College London, UK, published in PLOS Medicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-emergency-linked-poorer-outcomes-wide.html Tue, 25 Aug 2026 14:00:08 EDT news706786621 Unexpected staff shortages in ambulance services are costing lives, with patients significantly more likely to die within 24 hours when ambulance workers are off sick, according to new research. The study, by researchers at the Universities of York and Surrey, suggests that older people, those with the most serious conditions and patients needing care during busy winter periods are the most affected by ambulance staff shortages. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-nhs-patients-die-ambulance-crews.html Mon, 24 Aug 2026 10:20:07 EDT news706784074 Automatic crash notification (ACN) systems should become a standard safety feature in every new vehicle, like seat belts and airbags, according to a new paper by members of the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACS COT), published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons (JACS). The authors note that ACN is often offered as a premium connected-vehicle service that may stop working when a subscription expires. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-automatic-standard-free-vehicles-experts.html Sun, 23 Aug 2026 05:24:47 EDT news706681463 Interviews with patients hospitalized for heart failure, caregivers, providers and organizational leaders highlighted several strengths of Mighty Heart (a major clinical trial examining the effectiveness of in-home and telehealth-enabled visits by paramedics) that may support its adoption and implementation across health systems, a Columbia Nursing-led study finds. However, financial and regulatory challenges must be addressed to maximize the reach and sustainability of mobile integrated health (MIH), the researchers note. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-patients-heart-failure-caregivers-receptive.html Fri, 21 Aug 2026 15:20:02 EDT news706535822 Every day across the country, patients wait hours or days in clogged emergency departments for a hospital bed to open—a well-known crisis called boarding. Now, a new study published in JAMA looks more closely at what happens after doctors decide patients are sick enough to be admitted. The findings could have important patient safety and public policy implications. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-bed-emergency-department-boarding-wide.html Mon, 17 Aug 2026 15:20:04 EDT news706190882 University of Missouri researchers have found that a simple scheduling change can improve the health and well-being of physicians working overnight shifts. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-small-big-health-benefits-night.html Mon, 17 Aug 2026 12:00:05 EDT news706183081 States are moving faster and further than federal regulators to get kratom off store shelves, with some banning the herb outright while a pending federal rule targets only one of its chemicals. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-states-emergency-kratom-awaiting-federal.html Fri, 14 Aug 2026 16:40:03 EDT news705935144 Traumatic brain injury (TBI) in Pakistan is associated with a high risk of death and disability long after the initial injury, even in mild to moderate cases, according to two new studies in JAMA Network Open led by Weill Cornell Medicine researchers. While most TBIs occur in low- and middle-income countries because of road traffic accidents, long-term patient outcomes remain poorly understood. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-traumatic-brain-injury-pakistan-linked.html Thu, 13 Aug 2026 14:20:01 EDT news705848812 Nearly 500 children have been injured by e-scooters since 2019, with less than 2% reportedly wearing a helmet and an average age of just 12, according to a three-center study in England published online in Emergency Medicine Journal. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-children-scooters-england.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 18:30:04 EDT news705566930 With temperatures forecast to climb to 36°C (97°F) in parts of the UK, heat health alerts are once again in place—and for many people, it will mean more than an uncomfortable few days. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-difference-exhaustion-heatstroke.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 14:40:09 EDT news705670654 In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision allowed states to enact laws that ban or severely restrict abortion. Four years later, a study led by Harvard Medical School researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center shows that the effects of those laws are being felt throughout the health care system, forcing physicians to weigh legal risks, delay treatment and deviate from standard medical practices when caring for patients with serious pregnancy-related conditions. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-physicians-negative-impacts-abortion-pregnancy.html Mon, 10 Aug 2026 09:00:03 EDT news705567722 In the past year, the U.S. has seen a jump in frequent marijuana users going to the hospital with a nausea and vomiting condition, according to a report released Thursday. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-big-nausea-cases-frequent-marijuana.html Fri, 07 Aug 2026 03:10:01 EDT news705288717 E-scooter riders in England and Wales may face a higher risk of brain and internal organ injuries than motorcyclists and cyclists, according to a study published in Scientific Reports. The authors recommend increasing e-scooter safety through measures including mandatory helmet legislation, stricter speed limits and e-scooter design improvements such as deformable handlebar grips and enhanced braking. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-trauma-analysis-brain-injuries-common.html Thu, 06 Aug 2026 18:20:01 EDT news705253862 Each year, more than 250,000 people in the United States experience out-of-hospital cardiac arrests. Approximately 90% of patients do not survive. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-trial-focuses-duration-therapeutic-hypothermia.html Thu, 06 Aug 2026 16:00:02 EDT news705248807 A study of nearly 100,000 adults treated for suspected infection suggests that the National Early Warning Score (NEWS2), a score based on routinely collected vital signs that is widely used to identify patients at risk of clinical deterioration, may help clinicians identify which patients are most likely to benefit from immediate antibiotic treatment and which may safely undergo further evaluation before receiving antibiotics. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-widely-early-score-urgency-antibiotic.html Thu, 06 Aug 2026 08:00:03 EDT news705215041 A person having a heart attack may be only feet from medical care but miles from the laboratory testing needed to confirm it. That gap matters, especially for rural patients, those in nursing homes, ambulances and other places where access to specialized diagnostics is limited. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-gap-heart.html Thu, 06 Aug 2026 07:40:01 EDT news705214082 The most important people in a clinical trial may be the ones who never join it. Every "no" in a clinical trial is usually treated as the end of a conversation, but a new MUSC study suggests it might be the beginning of an important one. The study is published in the Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-engagement-gaps-opioid-overdose.html Wed, 05 Aug 2026 12:20:06 EDT news705146522 People with ADHD are more likely to experience violence and attend hospital Emergency Departments, finds new research by Cardiff University, Swansea University and the University of York. The work is published in Emergency Medicine Journal. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-neurodiversity-linked-violence-emergency-department.html Tue, 04 Aug 2026 21:00:03 EDT news705065222 A University of Colorado Anschutz-led clinical trial has found an automated oxygen delivery system helped hospitalized patients spend significantly more time in their target oxygen range compared with standard care, while also reducing exposure to both low and high oxygen levels. Patients in the automated group spent 85% of their time in the target oxygen range compared with 63% in the standard care group. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-clinical-trial-ai-oxygen-delivery.html Mon, 03 Aug 2026 13:00:03 EDT news704965073 Emergency departments across the country face a common challenge: how to reduce long wait times without adding more beds, hiring more staff or expanding facilities. New research suggests one answer may be hiding in plain sight—making better decisions about where patients receive care. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-simple-triage-protocol-er-adding.html Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:00:08 EDT news704463883 A study led by Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, Michael Garron Hospital, Humber River Health and the University of Toronto, in partnership with 20 long-term care (LTC) homes across Toronto, has found that onsite rapid testing for respiratory infections results in fewer transfers to the emergency department among LTC residents. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-onsite-rapid-decrease-er-term.html Fri, 31 Jul 2026 11:40:06 EDT news704713141 A dangerous social media trend that started in 2020 has persisted into 2026, with heartbreaking consequences. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-benadryl-isnt-health-deadly-viral.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 12:40:04 EDT news704365201 Burnout is pushing emergency physicians to leave the specialty or reduce clinical hours, adding to the body of research pointing to a crisis in health care in Canada, according to a new study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-emergency-physician-burnout-specialty-canada.html Mon, 27 Jul 2026 00:10:01 EDT news704104022 When a patient is admitted to a hospital emergency room with a life-threatening medical condition, the first order of business is to get that patient to a stable state. After that happens, it is standard medical practice for doctors to initiate what's known as a serious illness conversation, which gives both the physician and patient an opportunity to discuss goals of care, treatment and end-of-life wishes before a medical crisis makes those conversations impossible. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-ai-doctors-difficult-conversations-critically.html Wed, 22 Jul 2026 07:00:01 EDT news703920661 Cannabis beverages are increasingly turning up in stores next to iced tea, sodas and even chocolate milk, and doctors warn that easy access is putting kids at risk. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-cannabis-sold-soda-kids-er.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 18:20:01 EDT news703868992 Parents are helping prevent harm to children in hospital emergency departments, according to new study. Researchers from PRIME Center Wales, Cardiff University, with collaborators at the University Hospital of Wales and the University College London Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, reviewed 4,000 patient safety incident reports involving children who attended emergency departments. Of the 658 incidents that involved parental participation, 90% described parents helping to prevent, identify or reduce harm to their child. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-parents-key-partners-pediatric-emergency.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 12:40:06 EDT news703853102 A new UCLA Health study examining more than 1.5 million emergency department (ED) visits found that female physicians request more imaging and laboratory tests and admit more patients to the hospital than their male counterparts working alongside them. But the added testing was just as likely to uncover important findings, suggesting the additional care may have been clinically appropriate. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-female-er-physicians-patients-male.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 07:00:01 EDT news703832101 In 2023, nearly 51 million people were injured and 1.34 million died from road injuries, making road injuries one of the leading global causes of premature death and disability, according to a new study published in The Lancet Public Health https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-world-road-injuries-death-young.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 18:30:01 EDT news703755781