TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2010//
TI  - Characteristics of admissions to a recently opened Psychiatric Emergency Care Centre
JO  - Australasian psychiatry
A1  - Brakoulias, Vlasios
A1  - Mandali, Rama
A1  - Seymour, Joanne
A1  - Sammut, Peter
A1  - Starcevic, Vladan
SP  - 326
EP  - 329
VL  - 18
IS  - 4
N2  - Objective: The Psychiatric Emergency Care Centre (PECC) is a relatively recent service development that aims to improve emergency care of psychiatric patients. The goal of this paper was to report on the characteristics of admissions to a recently established PECC. Method: Several key characteristics of admissions to the PECC were documented for each of 376 patients in the first 6 months of its operation. These characteristics were then compared to the characteristics of admissions of 299 patients in the 'virtual' PECC (a PECC within the general emergency department) in the 6 months prior to the opening of the PECC. Results: The most common presenting symptom in the PECC was suicidal ideation (47.6%, n = 179) and the most frequent diagnosis made in the PECC was adjustment disorder (35.9%, n = 135). When comparing admissions to the 'virtual' PECC, PECC admissions were characterized by a significantly less frequent use of physical restraint and haloperidol and midazolam as pro re nata (prn) medications. Conclusions: Although further study is needed, one possible advantage of the PECC may be a less frequent use of physical restraint and certain prn medications (i.e. haloperidol and midazolam) for agitated and aggressive patients.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1039-8562
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/10398562.2010.498051
ID  - ref1
ER  -