Doctors take the lead in development of safety package

'Correctly performing intubation can be a risky procedure and difficult for staff to do consistently and correctly during potentially frantic periods in the ED'

LEADING THE WAY: Clinical director Dr Dilip Kumar and staff specialist Dr Jacob O'Gorman from Gladstone Hospital. Picture: Contributed

GLADSTONE'S emergency doctors are at the forefront of making their workplace safer for their hospital colleagues state-wide.

Clinical director Dr Dilip Kumar and staff specialist Dr Jacob O'Gorman have developed a "standardised and safe intubation package”.

Tracheal intubation is the process of inserting a tube through the patient's mouth and in to the airway.

Dr O'Gorman said it was used primarily to protect a patient's airway during emergency treatment.

"Correctly performing intubation can be a risky procedure and difficult for staff to do consistently and correctly during potentially frantic periods in the emergency department.”

The pathway will be available for all staff and will be used as a "checklist” to reinforce their clinical skills that are practised during training courses.

The idea for the safety package was pitched at a conference in Brisbane last month and has been selected as part of a suite of initiatives to be rolled out across Queensland.

Executive director for Gladstone-Banana Sandy Munro is proud of the work being done by the team at Gladstone Hospital.

"We have a dynamic team of dedicated clinicians, and this is reinforced by the fact that Dr Kumar and Dr O'Gorman have come up with an intubation pathway that will be rolled out across the state,” Ms Munro said.

"I'm so proud that our staff not only do a great job of treating our patients, but also continue to search for better ways of getting the best results they can.”

According to recent Queensland Health statistics, there were 2721 patients presented to Gladstone emergency department last month.

Out of those patients, 91 per cent were treated within the clinically recommended time.

Category 1 patients, which are classified as seriously unwell or injured, were seen on time.

In addition, the average wait time for all patients was eight minutes.

The hospital's new $42 million emergency department is under construction and on track for completion by mid-2020.