The concept of a “GP anaesthetist” or “GP obstetrician” can be a vexed one. Colleagues with the appropriate specialist ticket (FANZCA & FRANZCOG respectively in Australia) may question why the heck a general practitioner is meddling in their arena of expertise. We may hear similar from FACEMs in regard to emergency care. I have no doubt […]
GP Anaesthesia 2020 & Beyond Read More »
The South Australian Coroner has just released a report into the sad death of Mr Simos, who died whilst awaiting transfer from a rural ED back to a tertiary centre where he was under a current detention order. The Coroners report can be accessed here. As with all Coroner’s reports, it makes for salutary reading and
Lessons for management of acute agitation in rural EDs Read More »
I’ve been playing around with cognitive aids such as checklists and action cards for a couple of years (some are available via the RESOURCES section of this site or RURALDOCTORS.NET. Most of these were designed for handing off to nursing staff in the rural ED, partly to mitigate against the phenomenon of people disappearing off to the ‘big
Updated RERN Action Cards Read More »
It was back in 2001 that I read a piece in the British Medical Journal entitled “BMJ bans accidents” – hardly a new idea (it dates back to at least 1993) – yet we still hear reference to “road traffic accidents” (RTAs) or “motor vehicle accidents” (MVAs). Words are important; I have been convinced of
They’re not accidents, are they? Read More »
Like most clinicians, my time spent in anaesthesia drilled me in the importance of performing routine pre-anaesthetic machine checks, of keeping the workspace tidy and paying meticulous attention to detail. ‘ These lessons translate well into other areas of practice – at the start of every on call period in emergency, I check the resus
Keeping it all together… Read More »