The acute pain service is a multidisciplinary team specialised in addressing acute pain in patients within the hospital. Alongside this service runs an opioid stewardship program which addresses the misuse of opioids and pain medications not just within the hospital but within the community. We were privileged to have Dr Yvette McKellar who is a senior staff specialist anaesthetist and clinical lead of the Acute pain team, Andrea Freeman who is a CNC within the acute pain team and James Alderson who is the lead pharmacist for the surgical division and secretary of the opioid stewardship working group. We hope you enjoy :)

Occupational therapists work with sick, injured or disabled patients by helping to develop, recover, improve as well as maintain the skills needed for every day living. In an ICU setting where does occupational therapy fit in? We talk to senior occupational therapist Alexandra Walters about what occupational therapy can offer to patients in ICU.

Cardiac Advanced Life Support (CALS) is a course   that covers the management of the deteriorating and/or arresting patient following cardiac surgery. The CALS algorithm is considered the standard to optimally manage an arresting cardiothoracic patient and this podcast will explore the elements of this protocol. Join us as we chat to Dr Chris Hebel an ICU intensivist who runs the CALS course at GCUH and Sarah Croton, ICU CN who assists with the CALS course and has also been involved in multiple re-opens. Please find below the CALS algorithm...  

The subject of recreational drugs might be a bit taboo, but working within the ICU there are a large number of patients who either incidentally or purposefully overdose or have a history of drug abuse. Our senior pharmacist Dan explores the different types of drugs typically used by our patients, which receptors these drugs work on and the effects they can have on our patients. 

Subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) is the sudden leaking of a blood vessel in the subarachnoid space in the brain. We chat to Dr Teresa Withers the director of neurosurgery at GCUH and Angelly Martinez, ICU Intensivist about all things SAH. We follow a case study from medical history, presentation, interventions and management in ICU. We were really looking forward to this chat and it did not disappoint. We hope you can learn a few things from this one and it can shed some light on the management of SAH and why it is so important. Enjoy 

The trauma team is a specialised team within Gold Coast University Hospital that provide care to trauma patients from pre-admission to post discharge. In ICU we catch a brief glimpse of the initial phases of care for trauma patients before they are stepped down to the ward. The trauma team follow these patients through all aspects of their admission from their arrival in ED, theatre, ICU, ward and then transfer home. Join us as we unpack the role of the trauma team, led by Bhavik Patel consultant surgeon for acute care and trauma surgery.

Today we gain an insight into the ICU experience through the eyes of the patient. With us we have Jess Eels and Tony Wilson who are both nurses within our ICU but have also been on the other side as a patient. Their experiences are eye opening to us as nursing/medical staff and help to guide how we nurse our patients that are sedated and intubated.

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a technique which provides cardiac and respiratory support to people who's heart and lungs are unable to provide an adequate amount of gas exchange or perfusion to sustain life. Dr James Winearls along with ECMO CN Jacquie Whincup and fellow CN Lisa Mackie are around the table today to talk all things ECMO and to delve into the retrieval process.

Delirium is defined as a disturbance in mental abilities that results in confused thinking and reduced awareness of surroundings. In ICU we focus on prevention strategies instead of treatment of delirium. This episode we have Senior physiotherapist Lauren and CNC Niki to discuss strategies that are used to prevent delirium.

Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a serious diabetic complication that, when severe is often seen in Intensive care. ICU registrar Ivan Basic gives us an insight into this condition and how to manage it within the ICU.