Experiences of Health Professionals Caring for People Presenting to the Emergency Department After Taking Crystal Methamphetamine (“ICE”)

Abstract

Globally, addiction to "ICE" (crystal methamphetamine) is increasing and presents emergency health care services personnel with a number of challenges. This paper reports the first of two major themes arising from a qualitative study investigating health professionals' experiences' managing people presenting to the Emergency Department (ED) after taking "ICE." The theme "Caring for people who use 'ICE' when presenting to EDs" comprises five subthemes. These are: (a) expecting the unexpected: "they're just off their heads"; (b) complexity of care: "underlying trauma and emotional dysregulation";

Rates and features of methamphetamine‐related presentations to emergency departments: An integrative literature review

“…Cleary et al. () interviewed staff working in EDs to gauge their experience with methamphetamine presentations. Several issues of concern were highlighted including that methamphetamine patients are unpredictable, aggressive and violent, ED staff felt they lacked the training and expertise to deal with not just the behaviour but the emotional dysregulation that often comes with psychosis and patients' past traumatic experiences, and expressed concern that mental health assessment by the mental health team cannot take place in ED because the patients are intoxicated (under the influence of a substance).…”

Safety, risk, and aggression: Health professionals’ experiences of caring for people affected by methamphetamine when presenting for emergency care

“…However, currently, little is known about the experiences of health professionals charged with caring for people who use ICE and subsequently report to emergency departments for attention (Cleary et al . ).…”

“…Previous findings relating to the provision of emergency care to persons affected by ICE have been published elsewhere (Cleary et al . ). In the current paper, we report findings pertaining to safety and aggression management.…”

Gaps in the ice: Methamphetamine in Australia; its history, treatment, and ramifications for users and their families

“…), and more recently, the difficulties that health professionals encounter when ice‐users are admitted to emergency departments were addressed (Cleary et al . ; Usher et al . ).…”

“…The issue of increasing aggression in emergency departments by ice‐users has also been recently addressed by a multidisciplinary team of health researchers from different Australian universities (Cleary et al . ; Usher et al . ).…”