Tuesday, July 17, 2007
** BC coroner’s inquest recommends ambulances carry oxygen sensors
** Welsh Ambulance Service medic commended for bravery
** Queensland medics scramble after drug labeling mixup
CANADA NEWS
** A British Columbia coroner’s inquest into the deaths of two Kimberley paramedics has recommended the use of oxygen sensors in all ambulances. That is the word from the Globe and Mail (Armina Ligaya/July 14) which said the $100 devices, which could be worn by a crew’s senior practitioner, might have prevented the demises of Shawn Currier and Kim Weitzel. Currier and Weitzel perished May 17, 2006 in an oxygen deprived shed at the Sullivan mine. The duo succumbed after entering the shack to save mine employees Doug Erickson and Robert Newcombe.
WALES NEWS
** Politicos in Tredegar are to commend Welsh Ambulance Service medic Christine James for bravery Wednesday. IC Wales (July 12) said James will be given a commemorative plaque from the local town council for her part in saving three people from a burning house. According to the newspaper, James was in a rapid response vehicle when she saw smoking coming from a Beaufort Street home. Rousing an elderly couple, she also awakened a young man and removed the trio from the house. Town clerk Dr. John Evans said James showed tremendous courage during the rescue.
AUSTRALIA NEWS
** Queensland paramedics are being asked to report on instances where the use of adrenalin on patients resulted in unusual effects. The Courier Mail (Darrell Giles/July 16) said the request was issued by the Health Quality and Complaints Commission after news broke that certain vials of the drug had been mixed with potent pain reliever pethidine. Several adrenalin ampoules are also believed to have been mislabeled as pethedine. The AstraZeneca meds, imported from Britain, have been distributed to ambulance services, medical centers, doctors officers, dentists and pharmacists across Australia. So far, paramedics have raised questions into the deaths of two individuals. In one instance, the patient succumbed from an asthma attack, while in the other death occurred during a cardiac arrest.
