shades of grey…
A few days ago I was looking after a 31/40 gestation restrained passenger from low-speed MVA with a slight seatbelt abrasion in her RIF & mild suprapubic pain. She looked well, HR 70 with BP 108 systolic and no features…
Category Medical Specialty
more than man-flu (part2)…
Here is the follow-up to the story of our 19 year old febrile patient….. The case continues… His CXR demonstrates the following …. Clear lung fields No pneumonia No CCF is that a ‘globular heart’ ?? This is his ECG……
observing the occult…
The case: A motorcyclist is minding his own business, stationary at a set of lights and is rear-ended by a car at ~60-70km He is thrown 10 meters or so from his bike and lands on his left side. Remarkably…
supply & demand…
Case: 74 year old female is placed in the acute-area of our ED with a complaint of retrosternal chest tightness at approximately 9am. Her symptoms sound very typical for ACS. She looks clammy and pale. My colleague has placed her…
a tonne of bricks…
… well it wasn’t really a tonne; more like a dozen or so individual bricks falling from a height of 3-4 metres that peppered and glanced a patient I saw 48 hours ago. Whilst he presented as a ‘trauma’ and…
just a tablespoon…
This is the story of a 59 year old man who presented to our ED with a complaint of haemoptysis. He is otherwise well, takes no regular medications and besides his ’50 per day’ smoking history (over 40-odd years) he…
broad, fast & regular…
There are some things in medicine that I feel require a standardized approach for rapid diagnosis & management, especially in the face of an unstable patient & you have a little sweat on your brow. The following are two somewhat…
first time wheezer…
I have recently heard the quote, “the eyes do not see what the mind does not know” & feel it is incredibly applicable to this particular case, which some of you may have seen recently in one of my Tweets.…
Fingertip Injury
A guide to the assessment and management of common finger tip injuries in the emergency department.
Another Ankle Sprain
A 23 year-old female netball player presents c/o pain and swelling to her right ankle post playing netball. Does she meets the criteria for X-ray to rule out a fracture?
Case of Commotio Cordis
Ventricular fibrillation and sudden death triggered by a blunt, non penetrating, and often innocent appearing unintentional blow to the chest without damage to the ribs, sternum, or heart (and in the absence of underlying cardiovascular disease) constitute an event know as commotio cordis, which translates from the Latin as agitation of the heart.
Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP)
Yesterday a Public Health warning was sent to the Emergency Departments of Southern Tasmania regarding an algal bloom in the D’Entrecasteaux Channel and the accompanying risk of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP). I thought I’d use this announcement as an opportunity…