SBAR SBAR is an internationally established communication tool for reporting situations in healthcare. It is a simple and effective way to communicate in a structured manner, especially in situations with critically ill patients or at critical moments when immediate attention is needed. The most influential organizations for medical quality and…

Triage Most triage or decision support systems include some form of primary sorting of patients with varying needs for emergency care. The division is based on different scales indicating the estimated/assessed current medical risk of waiting for a medical evaluation by a doctor or medical intervention. The RETTS decision support…

Basic Principles of Ultrasound Heart (UCG) In two-dimensional echocardiography (UCG), ultrasound waves are successively sent out in different directions from the examination probe (transmitter/probe). The ultrasound machine can calculate the depth of reflection by tracking how long the sound waves have been out in the body. The reflection points from…

Extended Ultrasound Examination of Trauma Cases (eFAST) eFAST is an ultrasound examination of the abdomen and thorax (extended) that is useful in guiding the treatment of trauma patients when CT scans have not yet been performed (e.g., prehospital or in the emergency room) or are deemed inappropriate, such as in…

Ultrasound of the Lungs and Thorax Ultrasound has long been used to diagnose pleural effusion, but in intensive care, in the hands of anesthesiologists, it is a relatively new, clinically useful, and easily accessible tool for examining diseases and injuries in both the lungs and thorax. Ultrasound of the lungs…

Marine Toxicology Weever Stings and Other Poisonous Fish A large number of fish, mollusks, anemones, and other marine organisms can cause toxic reactions upon contact with humans. Of the approximately 27,000 known species in the ocean, about 1,700 are considered more or less poisonous. This number exceeds the combined number…

Belladonna Serious poisonings have occurred with medical use and when the plant has been tried for misuse purposes. However, accidental poisonings in children are rare. The plant is very rare and almost only found in botanical gardens. Latin: Atropa belladonna Atropa belladonna The plant is very poisonous. It contains, among…

Bites and Stings Most bites and stings in the Nordic region are benign and only cause mild to moderate symptoms. Some stings can lead to more serious symptoms, and the number of health-related cases can reach thousands every summer. Deaths are very rare, but occasional cases occur each year, primarily…

Snake Bites and Effects of Snake Venom In Sweden, bites from venomous snakes are primarily caused by the common European adder (Vipera berus), the only venomous species that occurs naturally in the country. Snake bites usually happen along the coasts, especially during the summer. Approximately 70 patients are hospitalized in…

Mushroom Poisoning Mushroom poisoning usually occurs after ingesting poisonous mushrooms mistaken for edible ones. In rare cases, poisoning may occur in other ways, such as by smoking hallucinogenic mushrooms or inhaling fumes during the boiling of false morels. Some common edible mushrooms include chanterelle, truffle, porcini (Boletus edulis), button mushroom,…