SAQ Stack

Short Answer Questions for ED Fellowship Study

Case: Decompression illness

A 30-year-old recreational diver is brought by ambulance to your small coastal ED. He collapsed shortly after emerging from the water and suffered a generalised seizure lasting 2–3 minutes. On examination, he is drowsy with right-sided hemiparesis. The nearest tertiary hospital is 300km away by road. Vital signs:

  • HR 110
  • BP 90/50
  • GCS 11 (E4V2M5 - not moving right arm)
SaO2 89% room air

Decompression illness

1. List (2) diagnoses for this patient and a unifying aetiology. 2 marks

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2. Briefly outline your management of this patient. 4 marks

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3. List (3) possible methods of retrieval for this patient and give (1) advantage and (1) disadvantage of each. 6 marks

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This case forms part of a collaborative marking project designed to support fellowship preparation. In the week leading up to each tutorial, you can contribute answers to any active case. If you contribute, your answers may be reviewed, marked, and used to refine the model answers during the weekly fellowship teaching sessions.

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Your personal results and updated model answers become available the day after the tutorial.

After the tutorial you can still do the case and self-mark your answers, but your answers will not be included in the group review.