Now I get it

41. Traumatic hypotension – June 2015 There are many causes of hypotension in multi trauma aside from the obvious haemorrhagic means. Injury to the spinal cord can block sympathetic stimulation to the lower part of the body leading to unopposed […]

42. Pre-hospital traumatic hypotension resuscitation – June 2015 The first aim is to recognise the severity of the problem. This includes involving a standard patient assessment of primary survey, vital sign assessment, secondary physical examination including key history of the patient’s […]

40. Aged or frail? – May 2015 There isn’t a whole lot that can be said to be going for getting old. The one thing anyone has that is undeniable though when they get old is that not everybody has […]

39. Diastolic heart failure and HOCM – May 2015 A frequent question that arises in the management of suspected cardiac chest pain or acute pulmonary oedema is what if the problem is due to a diastolic problem and not a […]

Meningococcal infection – May 2015 Meningococcal infections are deservedly amongst the most concerning of all in Australia. The bacteria that causes it, Neisseria meningitides, or meningococcus to its friends, is difficult to pass on and uncommonly problematic. But when it […]

33. Writing a clinical practice guideline – May 2015 Paramedics frequently believe they have an idea that will be better clinical practice than what they currently are doing. This stems from a mix of intelligent and educated practitioners, well read […]

34. Perfusion assessment & management – May 2015 Patient assessment is critical in determining what management therapies need to be provided. Perfusion is part of vital sign assessment. To determine patient perfusion, a number of easy to measure evaluations are […]

35. Crashed vehicle rescue extrication – part 2 May 2015 In a small number of motor vehicle accidents the patient will be physically trapped and require some assistance to be freed. In the simplest terms, freeing the patient will require […]

28. Crashed vehicle rescue extrication – May 2015 One of the most stereotypical pre-hospital emergency responses is to a motor vehicle crash. The variety of presentations ranges from a single car to multiple vehicles including trucks, trains or buses. Patients can […]

26. The patient has unnatural rhythm – ACS and the ECG – May 2015 Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) can cause a number of ECG changes. These can be used to help identify an acute coronary syndrome along with patient history […]

32. Acute spinal injury – May 2015 Acute spinal injury can be one of the most debilitating traumatic injuries. Just as there can be a challenge identifying when trauma to the head is serious, so too can working out what […]

12. Decompression illness – April 2015 Keywords: decompression illness underwater diving prehospital paramedic One callout that is not commonly attended as a prehospital emergency is the underwater diving related emergencies. Not diving as in jumping into water head first. No, underwater […]

31. Carbon monoxide exposure – April 2015 Keywords: Paramedic Pre-hospital Carbon monoxide Smoke You have been able to see a plume of thick smoke well before you turn that last corner. Entering the suburban court you realise it is best […]

8. Australian snake bites – April 2015 Keywords: Snake bite prehospital pressure immobilisation If you asked people to list the top ten favourite creatures to never meet with face to face you can bet snakes will appear more than once. […]