There’s no doubt that for the small rural emergency department, a critically unwell patient can quickly overwhelm available resources. Like many small rural hospitals in Australia, there is one doctor on call for emergency presentations, with the ward-based nursing staff (two in out location) responsible for ward care, assessment of outpatient attendances as well as […]
Safety in Resus – Use the Whiteboard! Read More »
Safety is paramount in anaesthesia, wherever it is being performed (in theatre, in ED or at the roadside). Many of the non-anaesthetists joke about the apparent simplicity of induction agents in an RSI, without appreciating the nuances. RSI is easy! inject the big syringe first – induction then the little syringe – paralysis By far the
Big Syringe, Little Syringe Read More »
It’s no secret that I am concerned with management of the difficult airway, especially as pertains to the rural/remote/austere context. This may be either as a rural GP providing anaesthesia in the Operating Theatre, in the Emergency Department or at the roadside. Whilst many of us learn and regularly upskill in anaesthesia via the comfortable environment of
DAS 2015: Ditch the FastTrach? Read More »
It was a few years ago that I blogged about the death of the medical conference. I had been to a fairly hum drum rural medicine conference and felt significantly underwhelmed with both the quality of presenters, the educational programme and the lack of vision for the future. Read about the experience here. Since then
What Makes a Good Conference? Read More »
Doctors are getting younger – at least that’s what it seems to old dinosaurs like me. On my occasional forays into the Hospital system, it’s not uncommon to receive messages from junior colleagues via text…and I’ve even seen textspeak slip into some of my student’s written clerkings. Which makes me wonder – has anyone seen