Monday, March 26, 2012

Little's Law Applied to the ER




Little's Law is a fundamental equation in operations. It's like F = m*a to physics and CO=HR*SV to critical care.

Applying it in the ED, Little's law states:

Number of patients in ED = Arrival rate of patients/hr * Avg length of stay in ED/Pt

Two of these numbers are readily available. Number of pts in ED and the arrival rate.

For example, lets assume that the ED bed capacity is 50 beds and normally has 40 beds occupied at a given time. The arrival rate on an average day is 10 pts/hr. What is the average length of stay in the ED?

Avg length of stay = # of pts in ED / arrival rate

= 40 pts / (10pts/hr)

= 4 hrs

Based upon this, we can figure out average LOS in ED and work on factors to decrease total ED length of stay for patients.

* More on Little's Law (pdf)

Thursday, March 1, 2012

The CPR Game for iPhones

Last night, I was hunting for new apps on my iPhone 4s and came across this gem.



I only have the Lite version, but I was entranced into playing for hours.  Its comparable to being in a tiny Tetris Sim center

In this game, your goal is to resuscitate the old, young, and very sick.  A nice touch is the option to use the cardiac and FAST ultrasound while running the code.

The complete version is $1.99, a very tolerable price.   Enjoy!