Biomedical subjects
P B Everett
Publications and source records attributed to P B Everett.
Childhood near-drowning: is cardiopulmonary resuscitation always indicated?
The case histories of 93 consecutive pediatric near-drowning victims admitted to All Children's Hospital from 1983 to 1987 were retrospectively reviewed for patient status on ED arrival and eventual outcome. Age, sex, length of submersion, core temperature, pHa, absence of spontaneous respiration, lack of response to pain, and pupillary nonreactivity were all found to be unreliable predictors of outcome. Of those who received CPR, 68% went on to intact survival. The use of cardiotonic medicines to establish a perfusing cardiac rhythm in the initial resuscitation was associated with an eventual outcome of severe neurologic damage or death in all instances. The decision to use cardiotonic medicines in the resuscitation of pediatric near-drowning victims should be weighed carefully against their ultimate chances of intact survival.
Profile of drowning victims in a coastal community.
Accidental drowning accounts for 15% of all accidental deaths in Pinellas County, Florida, and this study was conducted to better understand the epidemiologic profile of the victim. The medical examiner's records of 230 drownings in Pinellas County from January 1, 1983, through December 31, 1987, were reviewed for demographic and epidemiologic data. Bodies of salt water were the most common drowning site (47%), followed by swimming pools (22%), lakes (11%), baths (7%), and canals (6%). The drowning incidence for males was more than three times that for females. Drowning was endemic among boys less than five years of age (30/100,000/year). Fifty-nine percent of young adult victims had detectable postmortem blood alcohol levels. Drowning rates were highest among children less than five years and adults more than 80 years. Epidemiologic profiles of populations at risk and contributing factors are described and public safety measures are suggested.
The effects of a token reinforcement procedure on bus ridership.
Tokens, exchangeable for a variety of back-up reinforcers, were delivered for several days to all persons boarding a clearly marked campus bus. This procedure increased ridership to 150% of baseline. The experiment was carried out to demonstrate the applicability of operant techniques to urban transportation problems. In this study, a token reinforcement procedure was introduced in an attempt to increase bus ridership while holding the costs of reinforcers to a minimum and circumventing the problems of individual satiety and preferences and of delivering cumbersome reinforcers. A methodology for establishing a token-exchange procedure in an "open-field" behavior setting, where the subject population size, geographic location, preferences, age, sex, preferred hours of mobility, etc. are unspecified, is also presented.