Today we have made sure that you should be able to access the full WHO website via the phones. There are many excellent resources here. If you have had any difficulty accessing the links I’ve flagged on the website previously, I hope this will now be resolved. There should also be a new link on your phones which takes you to the mhGAP intervention guide. This is produced by the WHO and is a very helpful guide on mental health, neurological and substance abuse disorders, for health care workers in non-specialist settings. I think this may prove very useful; you can click through the flow charts to use it as a decision making tool when assessing patients. Let me know what you think!
Author: Jo Loveridge
Rapid Neurological assessment of a patient with an altered mental state
Palliative Care
Last week I posted information on recognition and emergency management of the acutely sick patient. It is just as important to be able to identify those patients in whom no cure is possible or who are nearing the end of their life. Cardiorespiratory disease or stroke, for example, can lead to significant terminal morbidity; as can end stage kidney disease, HIV and cancer. In these patients comfort and symptom control are vital. I attach an excerpt from a WHO publication about management of common problems in palliative care. It is helpful because it also makes suggestions about how families can help their loved ones when they are cared for at home. I have included some links to other related documents that I think may be useful.
ABCDE and SAMPLE History
The WHO “Basic Emergency Care: approach to the acutely ill and injured”(Geneva: WHO and ICRC 2018) course is open access online. The workbook contains lots of helpful information. This link takes you to one of the first modules on “Assessment of the acutely unwell patient”. I hope you find it helpful
GCS assessment
References
Organophosphorus Poisoning
Click on the link for a summary of how to assess and manage a patient with organophosphorus poisoning ( as requested). I will upload some useful references too as you will not be able to access the sites directly on your devices