Emergency Care Institute

Newsletter

Thursday 5 November 2020

ECI Updates

We are excited to welcome Trevor Chan in joining our team next week as Clinical Director. Happily, Michael Golding will be staying with us until the end of the year to continue his fantastic work on a few ongoing projects.

ECI MEMBERSHIP

We are currently updating the ECI membership list and if you would like to continue to be involved– please complete the form at this link to update your details. If you no longer wish to be part of the ECI Network, complete this link.

ECI is also currently reviewing the role and direction of ECI with our committee members and other key stakeholders. If you wish to provide feedback, please do so via aci-ecis@health.nsw.gov.au

STAKEHOLDER SURVEY

Keep an eye out for our second yearly stakeholder survey – it will be out at the end of this month. We use this to keep track of how ECI is performing, what our members priorities are, and how we can be more effective in future.

ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM 

Due to COVID, ECI’s annual symposium has been deferred to early 2021 in the hope we can facilitate the face to face meeting that has proven so valuable previously. We will be in touch regarding some alternative arrangements to share some positive work later this year.

ISTAC SURVEY

In the meantime, if you would like to provide feedback on information technology issues, priorities and ideas, please complete ECI’s Information Systems and Technology Advisory Committee Survey.

EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE (ED COP)

The ED COP has appointed a new Clinical Lead, Dr Lai Heng Foong. Welcome Lai Heng. 

The ED COP is now meeting fortnightly on Wednesdays from 3pm - 4:30pm. 

Our COP is open to all clinicians involved in delivering care to any patient seeking emergency care in NSW. Membership is open broadly to include all interested NSW Health staff from each LHD and Specialty Health Network, as well as professional colleges, people who use Emergency Department services in NSW, private providers/clinicians and other non-government organisations.

Please register to join the ED COP.

Alerts

Isuprel™ (Isoprenaline) has been discontinued in Australia. The CEC has released a Medication Safety Communication sheet informing the system of the discontinuation of the Australian registered isoprenaline products and providing guidance on the available S19A alternatives. Further investigations are also underway for a long-term solution. We will update you with more information regarding supply when available.

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Pathology NSW has released advice re: inappropriate testing in point of care testing devices. to access the information. There are 2 webinars on 6 and 12 November at 2 pm on Interpretation of Intraosseous samples and Point of Care Testing (PoCT). Click here for further details and registration information.

Opportunities to be involved

BPPV Patient Factsheet 

BPPV Patient Factsheet update - we are looking for nurses or medical staff with an interest in BPPV who would like to assist in reviewing and updating this document. If you are interested, contact Laura.George1@health.nsw.gov.au.

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Suicide Prevention in Older People – there is an opportunity to join a working group aiming to contribute to the Towards Zero Suicides strategy by shaping education/training strategies for suicide prevention in older people. Please reply to Timothy.Cooper@health.nsw.gov.au by midday 9/11/20.

Research

Katherine O’Connor and Michael Golding have had a paper published in Emergency Medicine Australasia  which is available online - Assessment of the availability and utility of the paramedic record in the emergency department. Congratulations Katherine and Michael. 

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Congratulations to Prof Kate Curtis, Belinda Munroe and Tiana-Lee Elphick from ISLHD, along with researcher Connie Van, who were awarded the College of Emergency Nursing Philippa Moore Publication Prize in recognition of publishing excellence for our paper - The implementation and usability of HIRAID, a structured approach to emergency nursing assessment. This multicentre research (funded by the NSW Emergency Care Institute and the Australian College of Nursing) demonstrated that the use of the HIRAID is acceptable, feasible, practical and appropriate for use in the clinical environment. Standby for the soon to be published research demonstrating the direct effects of HIRAID on clinical performance.

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Opportunity for Emergency Medicine Trainees 

There is an opportunity for Emergency Medicine Trainees to be involved in presenting at an IFEM-SEMI Journal Club event on 18 November at 8:00pm. If you, or someone you know is interested, please be in touch with Jonathan.Knott@mh.org.au as soon as possible.

Emergency Clinicians - Survey for you 

Emergency clinicians are encouraged to complete a Survey on Acute Care Pathways for Injured older Adults: A Survey of Australia and New Zealand Practice. The survey takes approx. 10 mins to complete. Further info and the survey can be accessed by clicking here.

Congratulations 

Further congratulations to our Research Advisory Committee Co-chair, Professor Kate Curtis who has been appointed as Director of Critical Care Research for ISLHD, incorporating the Director of Emergency research role. Professor Curtis will be accountable for the provision of leadership, expertise and development of research literacy amongst clinicians within emergency, anaesthetics and intensive care clinical areas. Very exciting news and we look forward to continuing to work with Kate on several ECI projects.

Educational resources

Previous NPS Choosing Wisely Webinars which may be of interest to ED clinicians can be found below:

• Pathology and Radiology and Audit of routine CT Brain for Delirious patients in the ED - Mackay Hospital and Health Service
• Ultrasound in suspected Testicular Torsion - Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service
• Reducing the ‘just in case’ Peripheral Intravenous Cannula in the ED - Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital
• Choosing Wisely – Choose Co-Design - Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service
• QLD Opioid Stewardship Program (QSOP) - Clinical Excellence Queensland (CEQ)

Finally, a big thank you to our many stakeholders and contributors who support and take an interest in our work.