JellyBean 044 with Kat Evans

Jellybean Two for One Deal. @Kat__Evans shares two interesting stories;

• #FOAMed in the resource poor world and the BADEM website
• a very personal story about what happens when your mum gets “proper sick” on the other side of the world. (I know I have had to think about that. Maybe you have too?)
• Emergency management of Pre-eclampsia

It turns out that access to Level One trauma centres, REBOA, Specialist Stroke Centres or even 24hr Cardiac Cather Labs are not available everywhere. (No, really, it’s true.)

Kat Evans doesn’t have them in the Western Cape.

We all know of South Africa and the problems that exist there. The levels of violence in some very disadvantaged areas are just plain frightening. For many years we may have been hearing about ‘Baragwanath’ Hospital in Soweto. Legends (urban and otherwise) seem to come flowing out from “The Pit” like blood. Resources are over run.

I’ve been aware of the issues of South African Trauma since I was a clinical student in London at Barts and The Royal London Hospital. There was a trauma scholarship in memory of Medical Student Christina Swain run by an amazing chap called Hugh Montgomery.

Each year one student was chosen to go to the USA and then Baragwanath to really see some trauma. So the pre-eminent trauma centre in London (with London HEMS on the roof and with @KarimBrohi & his Trauma Surgeon colleagues in the basement) had a scholarship that sent its students to ‘Bara’.

Twenty years later, unfortunately, South Africa is still suffering under the weight of an almost unparalleled amount of penetrating trauma in an non-conflict setting. Fortunately, the Christina Swain Trauma Fellowship is still going strong. (Congratulations to @Medic_Russell who won it this year.)

That’s not to say Western Cape, or Mitchell Plains where Kat works, is resource poor by South African standards. Rather the opposite. Emergency Medicine is in its very early stages as a ‘specialty’ in South Africa. Kat is one of 4 Emergency Physicians in her unit. They have a 24 hour Community Health Clinic down the road. So given the fact that she is seeing more trauma than you and me is she doing the same stuff you and I are doing?

South Africa is one of the worlds rising economies. Such is its potential that it is often grouped with the BRIC countries (Brazil Russia India and China) as one of the BRICS countries. It now has an emergency medicine college and hopefully will continue to lead the way in home grown African emergency medical development.

Social Media, Blogs, #FOAMed has a role in there too. Have a look at BadEM.co.za as it tries to present a flavour of #FOAMed that is relevant to people outside the richest countries in the world. (I would love to hear of all other #FOAMed from places outside the “Over-Developed” world; please contact me below or via Twitter @TheTopEnd.)

Their website is new but growing. All sorts of interesting people are joining up including @EMcardiac (Victoria Stephen Ep 85) and some paediatric specialists. It is also note-worthy for being a female dominated group of FOAMed-ers/bloggers/tweeters. Hmmmm.

Then there is the second story about Remote Twitter Moderated Mum Focused Critical Care (#RTMMFCC) and doing a Aero-Medical Retrieval for your own family. I’ll let Kat tell you about that one.

Have a listen. Have a think. What would you do?