QUAKE UPDATE

General Practice NZ (GPNZ) has been overwelmed by the huge response from GPs, nurses, pharmacists and administrative staff in response to their call for volunteers for a primary care relief pool in Christchurch.

Over 700 responses have been received from all over the country, as well as a number from Australia and several from the UK and the US.

No further volunteers are required at this stage unless you have additional advanced emergency response skills, in which case they are still keen to hear from you.

A huge thank you to everyone who has supported this collective effort. Pegasus Health has also asked us to extend their thanks to you all for this outpouring of support.

GPNZ will acknowledge your offers of help as quickly as they can. They are forwarding the relief pool database to Pegasus Health, who will match this with requests for assistance. There have been no immediate requests for assistance as yet, so they do not know what the requirements will be. They expect that requests for relief may come through over a period of some weeks.

BMJ Open Access NZ-Wide to 'Best Practice' Clinical Support Tool

In light of the tragic events that have unfolded in Christchurch, BMJ Learning has opened New Zealand-wide access to its clinical decision support tool, 'Best Practice'. BMJ is aware that many people affected by the earthquake will have left the city and may be presenting themselves to GPs and other hospitals outside of the Christchurch region.

'Best Practice' may be of use to all New Zealand GPs as a point of reference and information for diagnosing and treating illnesses and injuries of patients who may have been affected by the Christchurch earthquake.

'Best Practice' provides instant decision-support information with a step-by-step approach structured around the patient consultation, covering diagnosis, prognosis, treatment and prevention. It fits information around real, diverse and evolving medical information needs to give users a second opinion in an instant.

'Best Practice' can be accessed here.

Short cuts to illnesses that may be of help are:

Assessment of Altered Mental State

Assessment of Chronic Diarrhoea

Assessment of Acute Diarrhoea

Concussion

Assessment of Dizziness

Foreign Body Aspiration

Eye Trauma

Burns

Assessment of Back Pain

Assessment of Psychosis

Assessment of Fatigue

ENDS

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