Got a hankering for toxicology?

Interested in forensic toxicology?

Want to know the latest changes in Paracetomol (Acetominophen) toxicitiy?

The get yourself to Newcastle in May for the 2nd annual scientific meeting of the Toxicology And Poisons Network Australasia in May.

The conference is being organised and run by Dr Michael A Downes, who is the Director of Emergency Medicine Training at the Calvary Mater in Newcastle and a VMO Consultant Toxicologist for the New South Wales Poisons Information Centre.

For more details contact the TAPNA Conference Secretariat on Tel: +61 2 4973 6573 or Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

ED Registrar (Proactive, patient advocate): Hey, how are you? Thanks for coming down.

ICU Registrar (Calm, relaxed, ready to negotiate): No trouble. What's cooking?

ED Registrar: Well, I've got this guy I was telling you about. The intern saw him about an hour ago when he came in with a fever and looking clammy. Apparently he was a bit off when his daughter spoke to him on the phone earlier today, so she called an ambulance to bring him here.

ICU Registrar: Smart daughter.

ED Registrar: Yeah. In here he's febrile, a bit tachy around 110 and I've had to give him 2 litre of crystalloid to prop up his blood pressure. So he's probably septic.

ICU Registrar: Mmmm.

We are all aware of the role of ACE inhibitors and Angiotensin-II blockers in managing chronic heart failure and how B-blockers went from HF bad boy to recommended therapy, led largely by Carvedilol.

Spironolactone has become an established part of therapy following the publication of the RALES trial waaay back in 1999, with mortality and morbidity benefits and decreased frequency of hospital admission for acute exacerbations of chronic heart failure. Other aldosterone receptor blocking agents have been added to the mix, with agents like Eplerenone (EMPHASIS-HF, NEJM 2011 - a trial that was stopped early when a pre-planned threshold had been crossed. Watch out!) looking similarly promising, though you need to be aware of the inclusion and exclusion criteria.

So what's new in heart failure management?

The next Brisbane Intensive Care Network meeting is coming up so if you're near Brisbane, save the date:

12th February 2013

CLICK BELOW FOR DETAILS

FREE Consultant led teaching for the Intensive Care Fellowship Exam

Are YOU appearing for the CICM General Fellowship Exam In March - May 2013?

The Sydney Intensive Care Long Course is designed to give the examinees an experience of doing hot cases and viva in different hospitals across Sydney.

The course will run over 14 weeks (February 6 -May 8, 2013).

Every week, you will attend the course at one of the participating hospitals, where you will have the opportunity to do hot cases or vivas with the ICU team from that hospital. In the last week of the course, you will be invited to appear for a cross table viva mock exam. 

The course is only available to ICU trainees from NSW who are sitting the general fellowship exam in March-May 2013. 

Registration is essential.

The course is free, and is run as a teaching service by intensive care teams from the hospitals across Sydney.

Please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to register for the course

Don't miss the EARLY BIRD DEADLINE (31.01.2013)!

Register here for SMACC now!

Why?

• Sensational line up of speakers
• The ultimate critical care conference, bringing the best of Emergency Medicine, Intensive Care, anaesthetics, pre-hospital and rural critical care. 
• Superb venue
• Unique use of new media to improve your conference experience
• If you're into social media, you cannot miss it
• If you've never heard of social media and its applications for health care, this is the perfect place to start!

Find out more here

 Chris NICKSON 

 Podcast: CARDIOTOXIC OVERDOSES 

Listen to LITFL's Chris Nickson give 5 pearls on managing cardiotoxic drug overdoses.

Punchy and memorable.

Never surrender!

This talk was given at the Bedside Critical Care conference 2012.

Click READ MORE for the podcast and slides...

Critical care blogs are occasionally accused of shamelessly back-patting one another.

Whilst this is refuted by the arguement that we are only trying to promote FOAM, and we if we don't get it out there, no one else wiil... this is a shameless back - pat to Scott Weingart of EMCRIT fame.

3 MILLION downloads of his podcast is no mean feat.

Well done mate.

 Sean KELLY 

Sean Kelly is an Emergency Physician and Intensivist who's the Director at Gosford ICU in New South Wales. He's also the medical director at ICCMU.

He gave this great talk on paracetamol toxicity at Bedside Critical Care 2012 on Daydream Island.

He'll be at SMACC.

Check out the ICCMU website

Register for SMACC now!

Click READ MORE for the podcast and slides...

 ALERT 

 SAVE $$$ and WIN an iPAD MINI: 

The closing date for SMACC early bird registrations is THE END OF JANUARY

Remember, you don't have to be into social media to realise that SMACC will be amazing.

Save cash and REGISTER HERE NOW

Still confused about what a PK talk is? Look here

Submit a crit care PK (here), be part of SMACC and you could win an iPad Mini (which are awesome).