24/5/26 Diphtheria alert
There is currently an outbreak of Diphtheria in parts of the Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia. Please be alert for cases of oropharyngeal and cutaneous Diphtheria in patients who have been to these regions, particularly Indigenous patients.
Important copyright and AI information
Please be reminded that unauthorised reproduction of the Manual in any form, including creation of summaries, audio or animation, or copying content into any machine learning tool is not permitted. Breaches of this agreement will result in immediate, and permanent, termination of access and legal action for breach of copyright.
Dedication
This manual is dedicated to the memory of Dr Edward William Brentnall FACEM, MBE, OAM, KStJ 05/08/1929-01/10/2024. Ed was a guiding light for generations of emergency physicians who sheltered, mentored and inspired many of us. See the full dedication here.
Latest updates
Albumin corrected calcium calculation is no longer recommended
The Calcium page has been updated to indicate that the use of albumin corrected calcium formulae are no longer recommended due to their inaccuracy.
Large bore peripheral IV cannulae
The segment on large bore peripheral cannulae in the Peripheral intravenous access page has been merged with the segment on RIC lines in the Peripheral venous cannula insertion page.
Substances to avoid giving through a peripheral IV line
The Peripheral venous access page has been updated with a revised section on substances best avoided being given through a peripheral venous line.
Intraosseous access
The Intraosseous access page has had a minor reorganisation and update.
US guided vascular access
A new page called US guided peripheral venous access has been created from the contents of the Difficult IV access page.
Analytical errors in biochemistry
The Interpretation of investigation results page has been updated with additional information about analytical errors.
Sodium measurement
The Hyponatraemia page has been simplified by the removal of reference to factors affecting [Na+] when using flame photometric or indirect ion sensing methods as these are rarely, if ever used in current practice.
Hypernatraemia
The Hypernatraemia page has had a number of other minor updates.
