Department of Emergency Medicine > Emergency Medicine Research Associates Program > EMRAP Current Research Studies

Current Research Studies

Project	EMRAP Liaison	Pupose
Behind The Wheel	Audrey Le	To identify the most common risk factors associated with encountering an MVC. After, drivers identified most at risk will be provided interventions (e.g. driver’s refresher course, vision improvement) to reduce their MVC risk.
CADSI	Lauren Yamauchi Yihan Wang	To identify the population demographics of individuals in a trauma setting who report substance.
Carotid Pulse Chec	Natalie Van Gilder	This study aims to establish ultrasound, via Butterfly IQ probe, as a faster, more accurate, and more efficient technique for CPR-related pulse checks.
CARPO: Auxora in Acute Pancreatitis and SIRS	Sheyda Aquino Yana Khetiya	To assess the efficiency and efficacy of three different dosage levels of target drug within patients with AP and accompanying SIRS and to compare the length of time of hospitalization until discharge between patients who demonstrate early tolerance of solid food vs patients who do not demonstrate tolerate of solid food
Diastology	Tran Nguyen	To determine if a point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) performed by a physician in the Emergency Department can accurately diagnose the cause of a patient’s heart failure.
Erector Spinae	Nancy Taki Ryan Le	To examine the use of the Erector Spinae Plane Block (ESPB) compared to standard systemic pain medication in patients with intractable, nonsurgical abdominal pain in the Emergency Department. To assess the feasibility of performing the Erector Spinae Plane Block (ESPB) compared to the administration of standard systemic pain medication in patients with intractable, nonsurgical abdominal pain in the Emergency Department.
Exploring Factors that Drive Non-Urgent Emergency Department Use	Eddie Hernandez Isabella Choi	To determine the reasons for non-urgent visits to the ED in an academic trauma center and to determine how those who present to the ED for non-urgent visits perceive primary care physicians (PCP) and urgent care centers.
Firearms	Ashley Melgar Shinjini Das	Explore the association between ACE score and firearm injury. Matched, survey-based case-control design. Dose response assessment to evaluate if elevated ACE score is associated with increased number of firearms victimization events
Food Insecurity	Ian Olliffe Marco Esteban	To assess the feasibility of an emergency department based screening for food insecurity and an accompanying referral to food assistance resources, as well as to determine substantial trends in the prevalence of food insecurity in Orange County relating to ED visits.
LEAD-ABC	Akhil Chandekar	To better understand why patients are coming to the ED, with a specific focus on African, Black and Caribbean(ABC) patients through providing them with a survey. The survey seeks to understand patients’ relationship with their primary care providers, and whether their ED visits were preventable. The overall goal is to address the concerns from the survey to reduce preventable ED visits.
MethRef	Zarak Khan	This study uses point of care ultrasound (POCUS) to examine whether an increased frequency and duration of methamphetamine abuse results in worsening outcomes of heart failure.
PE PESI	Alyson Tsai	Observational, prospective study that will provide data to risk stratify patients using POCUS and PESI to identify those who may be suitable for outpatient therapy
Pulmonary Contusion	Seraphina Nguyen	To evaluate the accuracy of Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) to detect pulmonary contusions (PC) on blunt chest trauma patients compared to CT thoracic images.
STEMI	Angelica Armesto Kavin Krishnam	To determine if parasternal short-axis cardiac POCUS can detect RWMA on patients presenting to the ER with chest pain meeting STEMI activation criteria. We will evaluate if there is an association between patients who have an RWMA detected on bedside POCUS and their incidence of finding an occlusion on subsequent coronary angiography.
TCASI	Lauren Yamauchi Yihan Wang	To evaluate the alcohol consumption habits of trauma patients in the Emergency Department.
TPI vs LP	Tara Hashemi	To determine if trigger point injections with 1% lidocaine can better aid in the treatment of myofascial back and neck pain within the waiting room or triage of the Emergency Department.
Wrist Fracture	Ethan Lam	To determine to what extent common opioids are over-dispensed to patients in the emergency department. Specifically those patients discharged with wrist fractures as they are commonly prescribed opioid medications as part of their treatment.
Ultrasound Documentation	Yihan Wang	Focuses on financial sustainability of the ultrasound program. The purpose of this study will be to find out the effectiveness of a single individualized performance feedback in improvement of billing and documentation of POCUS in the emergency department.
Workflow Satisfaction	Musab Kazmi	A quality improvement study (QI) that seeks to determine clinician satisfaction with the new POCUS workflow. A survey was sent out to all clinicians utilizing POCUS in the ED to determine their satisfaction with the change.
Survey Scoping Review	Ryan Rokerya	To find the best ways to go about running new survey studies. Work exclusively with the ultrasound team.
“Hands on, Hands off!”	Niyati “Nia” Reddy	To determine the culture and expectations around ultrasound scanning for patients, including their comfort level being scanned and the power dynamics between ultrasonographer and patient.