While non-invasive ventilation (NIV) is used in a variety of clinical areas, I suspect emergency patients present some of the most challenging use cases. For emergency providers, investing a little time to review the basics really can lead to big improvements for your patients, even in the short timeframe of an ED stay. Like anything …
NIV’in on a Prayer (Consideration of Non-Invasive Ventilation) Read More »
Death is an integral part of life in the emergency department. However, end of life care remains incongruous with some of the better publicised aspects of emergency practice. As a specialty built on resuscitation, the death of a patient flies directly in the face of countless hours spent in advanced life support courses. Furthermore, the …
The D.E.A.T.H.L.Y end of life approach: How to save a death Read More »
Mobile devices have become synonymous with not only our personal lives and downtime (wherever that can be found) but also our professional practice in the emergency environment. Given the ever changing and vastly variable case mix we face on a daily basis, having access to world class references right in your pocket has the potential …
With the current impact of the COVID-19 pandemic being felt around the world, there has been an explosion of ingenuity and practical solutions to otherwise longstanding issues experienced by frontline emergency care providers. Aside from the crowdsourced PPE revolution, perhaps the most radical ideas have aimed to address issues relating to airway management in the …
Picture this – you are managing a patient who looks like shit, has a heart rate of 155 and a fever. You check the blood pressure on the automatic machine and you see 156/134. This is reassuring right? The patient has plenty of blood pressure so they mustn’t be that shocked? Unfortunately, this unrealistic looking …
This is Betio hospital…one of 2 main hospitals in Tarawa, the capital of island nation of Kiribati. I was recently fortunate enough to travel to Kiribati with a team from Australia to share some knowledge with the local doctors and nurses. This was our last day of teaching. What a phenomenal group of people …
The therapeutic use of distraction is one of the most remarkable skills a critical care nurse can use when caring for paediatric patients. The emergency department can be an austere environment for any patient with its florescent lighting and vague antiseptic smell. Added to this the common association between the ED and some previously experienced …
Distracting Sick Kids (…With cheap party tricks) Read More »
Defibrillation is one of the cornerstones of effective resuscitation following cardiac arrest. The ability to reorganise a lethal arrhythmia into a perfusing rhythm with a simple electric shock is one of the most meaningful interventions we provide in the acute care setting. While the act of defibrillation is straightforward, it isn’t without risk. Defibrillation works …
While there are lots of interesting things to read on the Internet, only a few have the potential to help you save a life in the real world. This article intends to help you potentially save a life by equipping you with the tools you will need to rescue a person who has suffered a …
Healing Hands (…only CPR) – A valuable rescue tool for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest Read More »
Urinary catheters are useful for a wide variety of reasons and in most circumstances are relatively straight forward to insert. However, there are some circumstances that pose a particular challenge for even the most seasoned catheter handler – enter the dreaded hypertrophic prostate. In men over the age of 60, physiological enlargement of the prostate …