Jehovah’s Witness trauma study probes blood alternatives

What are the therapeutic strategies for those who
choose not to have human blood transfusions?
Image: Medical Facts

by Anne Crawford

Major blood loss after trauma is particularly challenging for physicians when blood is not an option (BNAO) for treatment, as is often the case for patients who are Jehovah’s Witnesses. But there has been little evidence available about the therapeutic strategies that are used in its place.

Now, researchers from Monash University and the Alfred Hospital’s National Trauma Research Institute (NTRI) have conducted a study into some of the alternatives to blood and are interested in further investigating a novel option among them – a synthetic product made from cow’s blood.

Researchers urge greater hospital security to curb patient violence

Security personnel needed in EDs. 
Image: Daily Telegraph

by Anne Crawford

Australian hospital emergency departments should employ security personnel to counter the increasing number of violent incidents occurring there, a Monash University and Alfred Hospital study recommends.

Researchers from The Alfred’s Emergency and Trauma Centre have also called for a register to be established to alert emergency department (ED) staff across hospitals about repeat perpetrators of workplace violence to try to prevent future incidents.

Monash surgeon calls for new terrorist attack treatment measures

Professor Jeffrey Rosenfeld during his last military deployment

by Anne Crawford

A leading military surgeon says Australian hospitals should become familiar with US military trauma guidelines to better prepare them for terrorist attacks or other mass casualty events.

Professor Jeffrey Rosenfeld, a senior neurosurgeon at The Alfred Hospital, Professor of Surgery at the Monash University and a Major General in the Australian Defence Force, is also calling for civilians to be trained in haemorrhage control through the ‘HemCon’ course developed by the American College of Surgeons and the Hartford Consensus in the US, recommendations made after a US school shooting in late 2012 in which 20 children were fatally shot.

Alfred trauma program hits home with teenagers; study

Prevent Alcohol and Risk-related Trauma in Youth (P.A.R.T.Y.)

program is a trauma prevention and health promotion initiative

by Anne Crawford

Research evaluating an injury awareness program run at The Alfred Hospital that uses vivid clinical reality has demonstrated the program’s effectiveness in changing perceptions of risk-taking in adolescents.