Thanks to Alex Swain Director of Wodonga Emergency for inviting us up to Albury Wodonga to give an Advanced Airway Workshop. It was a great day and everyone played all out. It was a real treat to see the layered approach of teaching kick in and by the end of the day everyone could tube every manikin repeatedly…..even the famous manikin(dubbed this over several workshops) ‘Mr Evil’.[...]
Advanced Airway Course at Albury Wodonga
March 14th, 2010Syncope
March 10th, 2010This is one of my favourite areas, as patients present very frequently with this symptom. That very fact makes syncope a challenge. It is a symptom, not a condition in itself. We have to find the cause of the syncope. We need to be experts in this area as syncope presents some 5% of all emergency department visits and comprises 6-10% of admissions[...]
Video Laryngoscope
February 22nd, 2010The failed intubation. It’s your worst nightmare and it can look like this. The trauma patient with the cervical fracture, that crashes and you need to tube NOW.
You can’t move their neck and you look down with the laryngoscope(your trusted mac blade) and[...]
Lithium Toxicity or Tumour?
February 15th, 2010
A 56 year old woman presents to the emergency department with several days history of diarrhoea. She is a little confused and unsteady on her feet. Her past medical history includes hypertension and manic depressive disorder and she is well otherwise. She is on Lithium and an antihypertensive.
She denies trauma, or headache, or visual disturbance.
Her [...]
Chest Tube Insertion in Pneumothorax
February 13th, 2010This is a video lecture on how to insert a chest tube. It was done for an elderly gentleman with a spontaneous collapse of the right lung. His permission was given to display this video.
Pneumothorax presents in 3 peaks: Neonates, 20-40year olds(usually primary) and >40 year olds (secondary) [...]
SEX, DRUGS AND SUDDEN HEADACHE
February 8th, 2010
Sudden onset of headache and the potential underlying Subarachnoid Haemorrhage(SAH) is not an uncommon presentation to the Emergency Department.
I recently saw a 32 year old male who presented with a sudden onset of severe headache whilst squatting in the gym. He also complained of pre-syncope. What do we need to do for him?
SAH has an [...]
My Rant on what we need to know in Emergency Medicine.
January 30th, 2010Watch the video.
This is the reason the RESUSCITATION CONFERENCE, RESUS 2010 was established in Australia(July 10th and 11th). This is my rant during a Fellowship Course.[...]
Central Line Placement with Ultrasound
January 20th, 2010Central Lines can be very difficult to place. True central lines are the subclavian line and the internal jugular line. There is also the provision for insertion of a femoral.
Subclavian lines can be easier to establish as the subclavian vein is a permanently distended vessel that[...]
Hydrofluoric Acid Burns
January 18th, 2010
Etched Glass Photo by Sans Soucie
Hydrofluoric Acid Burns can be very serious burns, with fatalities documented at <5% burns area.
Hydrofluoric acid is a weak acid that is used in industry in electroplating and glass etching and in smaller business in carpet cleaners and other such stain removing products. It’s a weak acid with good tissue [...]
Handheld ultrasound- the EM gadget of the future
January 10th, 2010
As ultrasound machines get smaller and smaller I’m excited at what is coming up. In Australia Sonosite have introduced the new handheld PDA-type ultrasound machine. A bit geeky if you hang it round your neck, but I won’t care. The problem with most of these is that the software hasn’t quite caught up yet.
Above we [...]
