Severity – Severe or Life threatening – think RESUS- Treatment within 30 min – bronchodilators and steroids should bee given within 30min
- 1hrs Observation after Neb – better after a neb don’t just send home they may deteriorate when it wears off.
- PEFR – must be >75% expected prior to discharge (at least 1hr after treatment finished)
- Discharge advice sheet – can print off from this guide, remember to check inhaler technique and consider a spacer
Category: Learning
Meningitis – Adults
- Keep your suspicions high – early signs it may not be clear
- Sepsis Kills – give antibiotics & fluid early
- Consider Acyclovir
- Give Dexamethasone with Antibiotics – it can reduce neurological sequelae
- Consider indications for CT before LP
- Get SENIOR support early
Antibiotics Guides
Aortic Dissection
Aortic Dissection (AD), is uncommon (1 AD:200 ACS) but is…Rapidly FATAL! Unfortunately recognising aortic dissection is difficult with a clinician pickup rate of 15-43%. Read more
Rabies [notifiable disease]
Recent Incident: Bat contact was not recognised (effectively touching a bat without gloves means treatment is recommended)
Important: Rabies Vaccine is in short supply and we must do a UKHSA risk assessment. Call RIgS 09:30-17:00 7 days, OR complete Form
Rabies is an acute viral encephalomyelitis caused by members of the lyssavirus genus. The UK has been declared “Rabies-Free”. However, it is known that even in “Rabies-Free” counties the bat population posse a risk.
In the UK the only bat to carry rabies is the Daubenton’s Bat [Picture on the Left] and this is not a common bat in the UK. The UK and Ireland are Classified as “low-risk” for bat exposure. Despite our “low-risk” status in 2002 a man died from rabies caught in the UK from bat exposure.
Although rabies is rare it is fatal so we must treat appropriately, Public Health England – Green book details this.
Risk Assessment
To establish patients risk and thus treatment you need to establish the Exposure Category and Country Risk [Link to Country Risk]
Exposure Category
Combined Country/Animal & Exposure Risk
Treatment
Obviously patients with wounds will need appropriate wound care and cleaning, specifics for rabies are below.
If in ANY doubt, or you feel you need advice about treatment contact: On-Call Microbiologist (who will contact PHE or Virology advice)
You will likely need to liaise with the duty pharmacist to obtain vaccine or HRIG – which may need to be sent from a different hospital. [it is probably worth trying to obtain the 1st weeks treatment if possible, to avoid treatment delays]
IN HOURS 08:30AM-5PM PLEASE CALL PHARMACY TO INFORM THEM TO EXPECT A DELIVERY OF IMMUNOGLOBULIN SO THIS CAN BE SEGREGATED FOR THE CORRECT PATIENT. PLEASE ASK TO SPEAK TO THE RESPONSIBLE PHARMACIST CRH (4218/4279) HRI (2422/7123)
Rabies and Immunoglobulin Service (RIgS), National Infection Service, Public Health England, Colindale (PHE Colindale Duty Doctor out of hours): 0208 327 6204 or 0208 200 4400
Notifiable Diseases
Registered Medical Practitioners in England and Wales have a statutory duty to notify Public Health about the following diseases. To facilitate rapid treatment and control of outbreaks. (Links to Wikipedia for illustrative purposes) Read more
Metastatic Spinal Cord Compression (MSCC)
This is guide to the investigation of Metastatic Spinal Cord Compression (MSCC) in Oncology/Haematology patients. – (Trust link)
You need to be a bit more suspicious and have a lower threshold for investigation than in patients without Known, Suspected OR Previous Malignancy Read more
Injuries in Non-Mobile Children
Unfortunately under 1 year olds are at a higher risk of NAI and this needs to be considered in ALL presentations. But remember if the child can’t Crawl/Stand/Cruise/Walk they shouldn’t injure themselves.
Rolling is NOT mobility!
iNFANT – user guide – normal development
the iNFANT is truly a design enigma, it is simple yet complicated, amazing yet frustrating, beautiful yet disgusting. And due to a unique production method, each iNFANT has its own variations and special features. Read more
EMBRACE & Paediatric Critical Care
In our trust we don’t have paediatric critical care beds. However, in our region we use EMBRACE (a paediatric critical care transport team), who can transfer critically ill children to specialist centers (in or out of region).
EMBRACE
- 0114 268 8180
- Guidance
Y&H Paed Critical Care
Drugs:
- Trust guide
- Remember: Midazolam 10mg/2ml is used(not the 5mg/5ml we have in ED)
- Found in theatres control drug cupboard (see trust guide)
