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 R-sided hemiparesis. The nearest tertiary hospital is 300km away by road. Vital signs are as follows :

  • HR 100
  • BP 90/50
  • GCS 11 E4 V2M5
SaO2 89% RA

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. Complete the table below listing (3) possible methods of retrieval for this patient. Give (1) advantage and (1) disadvantage of each method. 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.