"Sentinel" or "early warning" bleed

To bleed or not to bleed, that is the question.

nature reserve in the Saudi Arabian desert. It has been a dry winter, with virtually no rain since the previous spring.The hoopoe larks are quiet this year. Occasionally a male whistles his song and dances vertically up and down in the air – about 5 metres up, then, after a somersault , back to the ground or the bush that he started from. In some years, every territory contains a dancing male. ...

An early warning on early warning systems!

Evaluation of the novel respiratory virus surveillance program: Pediatric Early Warning Sentinel Surveillance (PEWSS).

OBJECTIVES Infections caused by respiratory viruses are associated with recurrent epidemics and widespread morbidity and mortality. Routine surveillance of these pathogens is necessary to determine virus activity, monitor for changes in circulating strains, and plan for public health preparedness. The Southern Nevada Health District in Las Vegas, Nevada, recruited five pediatric medical practic...

Early-warning health and process indicators for sentinel surveillance in Madagascar 2007-2011

BACKGROUND Epidemics pose major threats in resource-poor countries, and surveillance tools for their early detection and response are often inadequate. In 2007, a sentinel surveillance system was established in Madagascar, with the aim of rapidly identifying potential epidemics of febrile or diarrhoeal syndromes and issuing alerts. We present the health and process indicators for the five years...

Early warning scores: a health warning.

Early warning scores are frequently used in UK adult emergency departments (EDs) and are gaining traction in paediatric emergency care. Like many innovations with inherent face validity, they have great appeal to clinicians, managers and commissioners. However, it is important to ensure unintended consequences and balancing measures are mitigated. We review the background to their development a...