February 2018

 

RESEARCH NEWS

National project to benefit Indigenous patients

Mt Isa Hospital emergency doctors are leading a national research project to improve the diagnosis and treatment of bacterial infections affecting Indigenous Australians.

 

New model for emergency nurse practitioner training

In an Australian-first, Redcliffe Hospital nurses have a successful in-house model for emergency nurse practitioner candidate training.

 

Trial for children with seizures

EMF is co-funding an Australasian PREDICT network trial aiming to improve the care of children suffering from prolonged seizures.

 

NHMRC grant for EMF-funded pilot study

An EMF-funded pilot study has received a $2.63 million NHMRC 2018 Project Grant to expand research into acute respiratory failure – the most common reason children are admitted to hospital.

 

No difference between IV and oral paracetamol

In a surprising outcome, Townsville-based clinicians found no difference between intravenous and oral paracetamol for delivering pain relief.

 

Aussie doctors help trial new treatment in Africa

EMF-funded research aimed at Aussie kids has led to an international collaboration and a potential new treatment for African children dying from pneumonia.

 

Mass disaster simulation 

With the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games fast approaching, the Gold Coast University Hospital Emergency Department has made sure it’s prepared for a worst case scenario mass disaster with the help of EMF’s Research Development Manager-Gold Coast, Amy Sweeny.

 

Workforce stress in the ED

Two different emergency departments: same things stressing staff and similar ways of managing the stress. Next step for the EMF-funded researchers: system-based solutions.

 

Grant NEWS

Round 28 grants announced

Round 28 Trainee and Staff specialist grant recipients have been announced! The successful applicants this round have a strong focus on reducing emergency department demand as well as improving regional healthcare delivery.

Round 29 now open

Round 29 opened on 12 February 2018 and closes 20 April 2018 (5 pm.) In total, EMF will award up to $850,000 to successful Trainee, Staff Specialist, Project and Program grant applicants as well as Research Scholarships. Applicants will be notified of the outcomes by the end of August 2018.

Preview Round 30 application forms

Round 30 opens on 25 June 2018. However, if you are interested in applying for a Trainee or Staff Specialist grant in this round, you can begin preparing your application. The application forms can be previewed on SmartyGrants. We encourage applicants to use the word templates to develop their applications, these can be found on the Researcher support tools on the EMF website.

Important notice

The URL for the for the Smartygrants Queensland Program has changed. It is now: https://emfqld.smartygrants.com.au. You will need to use this link to access your reports and apply for Queensland Program Grants.

 

RESEARCH 
SUPPORT NETWORK (RSN)

RSN Manager, Tegwen Howell attended the Logan Hospital Emergency Research Group inaugural meeting in February. Tegwen said, “It was great to be a part of planning for more emergency medicine research at Logan Hospital. The team worked hard to get things up and running and are building good stakeholder collaborations.” 

 

Our Children’s Health Queensland Research Development Manager, Kelly Foster, attended the 2017 National Health and Medical Research Council Research Translation symposium and presented a poster on the role of the RSN in translation.

Research Development Manager, Dr Julia Hocking,recently spent time with Rockhampton Hospital Emergency Department’s Dr Tanya Mellet planning journal article and podcast education sessions for PHOs and registrars in 2018.

 

Toowoomba Hospital Emergency Department Staff Specialist, Dr Alex King was awarded the 2017 Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service Employee Award for Research (novice) in late January (pictured above receiving the award from Dr Dennis Campbell). RSN Research Development Manager-Toowoomba, Richard Henshaw, nominated Dr King for the award. 

 

EMF NEWS

Join the EMF Scientific Advisory Committee

EMF is calling for expressions of interest from experienced emergency medicine researchers interested in joining the EMF Scientific Advisory Committee: you'll play a key role in overseeing our research governance.

2016-17 Annual Report

In case you missed it, EMF’s 2016-17 Annual Report is now available electronically and print (on request). It’s our longest ever annual report, but that’s only because so many great things have happened in emergency medicine research funded by EMF.

Draft informed consent policy

In late 2017, EMF submitted feedback to the draft Queensland Health policy statement: Research involving patients who are unable to give consent. EMF’s submission was informed by extensive consultation with key stakeholders in Australia and internationally.

Coincidentally, in February 2018, outcomes were published from a PREDICT network study (led by A/Prof Jeremy Furyk) looking at what parents felt about the use of deferred consent in clinical trials involving critically ill children presenting to the emergency department. This research was part-funded by an EMF scholarship and The Townsville Hospital Private Practice Trust Fund.

 

MEDIA

EMF-funded research in the news

 
 
 
 
 

PUBLICATIONS

Recent publications related to EMF-funded research

Byrne, L., Obonyo, N.G., Diab, S., Dunster, K., Passmore, M., Boon, A.C., Hoe, L.S., Hay, K., Van Haren, F., Tung, J.P. and Cullen, L., “An Ovine Model of Hyperdynamic Endotoxemia and Vital Organ Metabolism”, Shock: Injury, Inflammation, and Sepsis: Laboratory and Clinical Approaches, 2018;49(1):99-107. doi: 10.1097/SHK.0000000000000904

Chapman, A.R., Lee, K.K., McAllister, D.A., Cullen, L., Greenslade, J.H., Parsonage, W., Worster, A., Kavsak, P.A., Blankenberg, S., Neumann, J. and Söerensen, N.A.,  “Association of High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin I Concentration With Cardiac Outcomes in Patients With Suspected Acute Coronary Syndrome”, JAMA, 2017;318(19):1913-1924. doi:10.1001/jama.2017.17488

Chu, K.H., Keijzers, G., Furyk, J.S., Eley, R.M., Kinnear, F.B., Thom, O.N., Howell, T.E., Mahmoud, I., Ting, J.Y. and Brown, A.F., “Applying the Ottawa subarachnoid haemorrhage rule on a cohort of emergency department patients with headache”, European journal of emergency medicine: official journal of the European Society for Emergency Medicine, 2017 Dec 5  doi: 10.1097/MEJ.0000000000000523. [Epub ahead of print]

Chiew, A.L., Isbister, G.K., Kirby, K.A., Page, C.B., Chan, B.S. and Buckley, N.A., “Massive paracetamol overdose: an observational study of the effect of activated charcoal and increased acetylcysteine dose (ATOM-2)”, Clinical Toxicology, 2017;55(10):1055-1065. doi: 10.1080/15563650.2017.1334915.

Furyk, J., McBain-Rigg, K., Watt, K., Emeto, T.I., Franklin, R.C., Franklin, D., Schibler, A., Dalziel, S.R., Babl, F.E., Wilson, C. and Phillips, N., “Qualitative evaluation of a deferred consent process in paediatric emergency research: a PREDICT study”, BMJ open, 2017;7(11), p.e018562.

Kelly A.M., Holdgate A., Keijzers G., Klim S., Graham C.A., Craig S., Kuan W.S., Jones P., Lawoko C., Laribi S., "Epidemiology, treatment, disposition and outcome of patients with acute exacerbation of COPD presenting to emergency departments in Australia and South East Asia: An AANZDEM study", Respirology. 2018 Feb 2. doi: 10.1111/resp.13259. [Epub ahead of print]

Plath, S.J., Wright, M. and Hocking, J., “Evaluating an Australian emergency nurse practitioner candidate training program”, Australasian Emergency Nursing Journal, 2017;20(4): 61-168. doi: 10.1016/j.aenj.2017.07.001.

Winearls J., Campbell D., Hurn C., Furyk J., Ryan G., Trout M., Walsham J., Holley A., Shuttleworth M., Dyer W., Keijzers G., Presneill J., Fraser J.F., Wullschleger M., "Fibrinogen in traumatic haemorrhage: A narrative review", Injury. 2017 Feb;48(2):230-242. doi: 10.1016/j.injury.2016.12.012. Epub 2016 Dec 26.

 

EVENTS

Are you involved in acute care medical research?  Do you know how to plan for your research outcomes to be translated into clinical practice?  EMF is running a three-hour interactive workshop to help clinicians plan how to translate their research. Places are strictly limited so register today. 
Cost:    $50 (plus $5 GST)

 

Queensland Autumn Symposium

Abstracts close for the ACEM Queensland Autumn Symposium on 30 April 2018, with EMF sponsoring the Free Paper Session. The event is being held May 31- June 1 2018 in Brisbane.

 

Queensland Emergency Research Collaborative (QERC)

The next QERC meeting will be held on 5 April 2018 in Brisbane. QERC aims to improve the quality and impact of emergency health research activities by supporting multicentre research and facilitating collaborations. EMF strongly encourages clinicians new to research to join QERC. To find out more, email EMF Research Manager, Lisa van den Berg: lisa.vandenberg@emfoundation.org.au

 
 

EMF would like to thank Queensland Health for its ongoing funding of the EMF Queensland Research Program.