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 »
I’ve been asked to run an Airway Workshop for rural doctors at the annual RDASA Masterclass conference to be held in Adelaide 2015. Airway management is an essential skill for the rural clinician and one with which I am slightly obsessed… “Without an airway, you’ve got nothing!“ This is also an area of expertise that
Disappointing news this week from CountryHealth SA – on April Fools Day they announced that an agreement has been reached with the AMA(SA) regarding rural doctor contracts …but neglected to inform the Rural Doctors Association of SA, who not only represent rural doctors in this State but with whom CHSA were supposedly negotiating. The current
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 »