Month January 2019
to err is human 340 256 2

Are you Satisficed?

Review these chest radiographs of an ICU patient with respiratory deterioration. What has been missed? What cognitive bias contributed to the error?

CCC Critical Care Compendium 680

Urine Electrolytes

Urinary anion gap (UAG): Differentiate renal or GIT cause of HYPERchloraemic metabolic disorders; or Normal anion gap metabolic acidosis (NAGMA)

C. H. Joseph Chang (1929 - 2017) 340

C. H. Joseph Chang

C. H. Joseph Chang (1929 - 2017) was an American radiologist. Chang sign (CXR finding in pulmonary embolus) decribed in 1965

CCC Critical Care compendium 340

Beta-Blocker Overdose

Updated 2nd July 2024 OVERVIEW TOXICODYNAMICS TOXICOKINETICS RISK ASSESSMENT Onset Propanolol Patient factors General clinical features Propanolol (“sodium channel blocker masquerading as a beta blocker”) Sotalol MANAGEMENT Resuscitation Supportive care and monitoring Investigations Decontamination Enhance elimination Antidotes Disposition CONTROVERSIES References…

to err is human 340 256 2

Entrapped

You are handed over a patient by a colleague (that's a 'handoff' to you Yanks)... He says he would usually send a patient like this home, but as the d-dimer is pending he suggests the patient should wait for the result.

CCC Critical Care compendium 340

Adrenaline

Adrenaline (epinephrine); catecholamine; direct acting sympatheomimetic -> alpha & beta agonist; low doses -> beta-effects -> increase HR and Q; higher doses -> alpha-effects; maintains coronary & cerebral blood flow

CCC Critical Care compendium 340

Ideal Transport Monitor

Ideal Transport Monitor: most important monitor is clinical observation but parts of the clinical assessment (ie. auscultation) can be impossible.

CCC Critical Care compendium 340

Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS)

The GCS is a neurological scoring system used to assess conscious level after head injury
Teasdale and Jennet invented the GCS in 1974