Emergency Medicine Blog, vernacular insights and health 2.0 reasoning
Posted in Emergency Musical Interlude, australia, emergency medicine, humor, toxicology, toxinology, western australia on Dec 10th, 2008
Come to Australia - there are so many interesting ways to die
Emergency Musical Interlude XII
Before the emails start - NOT all the animals will actually kill you - the taipan is in fact a death adder; the tiger snake is, well not a tiger snake; hermit crabs are generally innocuous (as are koala bears); necrotising [...]
Posted in envenomation, toxicology, toxinology on Dec 5th, 2008
Redback Spider
Latrodectus hasselti: Redback spider, Australia
Latrodectus katipo: Katipo spider, New Zealand
Redback spider bite is the most common envenoming in Australia with 5000–10,000 human bites occurring annually. Clinical features can be distressing and refractory to symptomatic treatment but not life‑threatening. Antivenom is curative.
Toxin
Venom of the Latrodectus genus contains Alpha‑latrotoxin. This toxin acts presynaptically to [...]
Posted in Administration, access block, education, evidence based medicine, waiting times on Nov 24th, 2008
A large six and a half year population study has just been published in the MJA. Frequent attenders at emergency departments: a linked-data population study of adult patients. The study looked at all the adults attending the nine emergency departments in Perth, Western Australia with a view to better understanding the type of patients who frequently attend ED’s [...]
Posted in education, lecture, toxicology on Nov 23rd, 2008
Brown Snake
Brown snake envenoming is the most common cause of death from snakebite in Australia.
The hallmark of brown snake envenoming is a severe defibrinating coagulopathy.
Brown snake venom contains procoagulants, cardiotoxins and a potent presynaptic neurotoxin (Textilotoxin).
Species
Pseudonaja nuchalis: Western brown or gwardar
Pseudonaja affinis: Dugite
Pseudonaja textilis: Common or eastern brown snake
Pseudonaja guttata: Speckled brown
Pseudonaja [...]
Posted in education on Nov 11th, 2008
The Browns are back in town…as the warm weather returns so the basking angels of the scrub are out in force. In Western Australia we have just started to treat our first significant brown snake envenomations of the spring/summer period. In the first 5 cases combination treatment with FFP and CSL brown snake antivenom has [...]
Posted in Ausenclature, dictionary, education, emergency medicine, humor, vernacular on Nov 5th, 2008
• back of Bourke
Back of beyond, specifically inland [see woop woop]
‘The chopper will be a while yet, they’re coming from back o’ Bourke‘
• bung
Broken, exhausted, out of action
Origin: Australian pidgin, where the phrase to go bung meant ‘to die’
‘I’ll have to go see the doc about me bung knee’
Audio
• Barcoo spew
Illness characterized by profuse vomiting attacks lasting days
Term [...]
Posted in Ausenclature, dictionary, education, humor on Nov 4th, 2008
Australia and New Zealand have their own vernacular. Through correspondance with various illustrious colleagues it has become apparent that some of the terminology used in this, and other Aussie blogs is occassionally confusing.
To rectify this matter I will be joining with Aussie health professionals to create a simple medical vernacular translator to assist OTD (overseas [...]
Posted in AMA, Administration, australia, hospital on Oct 31st, 2008
A German doctor whose bid for permanent residency in Australia was refused because his son is disabled, says he does not think the doctor shortage was taken into account when his application was assessed.
Dr Bernhard Moeller has worked in Horsham (Victoria) for two years, leading the intensive care of patients and supervising other GPs in the [...]
Posted in Emergency Musical Interlude, emergency medicine, vernacular on Oct 29th, 2008
Australian vernacular contextualized to the adolescent
see also ‘New Zealand Vernacular Interlude‘
Posted in Administration, emergency medicine, humor on Oct 15th, 2008
A colleague just reminded me of one of my favorite ’letters’ published in The Courier Mail, Queensland, Australia on May 04 2008. It pertains to the workings of the emergency physician. For more information on emergency medicine and waiting times - read Primum Non Nocere…
Dear Potential Patient,
I WORK in a public hospital emergency department, so that means [...]
The 28-hour-day
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