What is Ice?Ice is a stimulant drug

Ice is a type of methamphetamine

How is Ice used?

SmokedInjectedSwallowedSnorted

Ice overdoseRacing heart beat and chest painBreathing problemsFits or uncontrolled jerkingExtreme agitation, confusion, clumsinessSudden, severe headacheUnconsciousnessStroke, heart attack and death

What is behaviour?

Is a person’s observable conduct and activity

Commonly defined as the way people react or perform to a situation

Includes all the things people do and the reasons why they do it

Society in general defines “normal” behaviour

AIMThe urgent need in an Acute Behavioural Disturbance is to:

Reduce the risk of the patient harming themselves or others

Enable transport to an appropriate treatment setting

Enable assessment to proceed

RisksAcute Behavioural Disturbance is an emergency which poses a

risk of physical threat of injury to paramedics, the patient,

property, other emergency staff and by-standers that requires

immediate intervention.

Patients may present as:

Verbally aggressive – abusing and/or threatening staff and

others;

Physically aggressive – lashing out, kicking or punching walls,

throwing objects and displaying a high level of violence attacking

and assaulting staff or others.

De-escalation Techniques

1) Simple Listening

2) Active Listening

3) Acknowledgement

4) Apologising

5) Agreeing

6) Inviting Criticism

NB. De-escalation remains the first step in Patient Management

Mechanical Restraint

For use with patients in whom control is necessary to facilitate specific treatment and prevent an injury to themselves or others where other strategies have failed.

This particularly refers to aggressive, combative and violent mental health patients and aggressive, combative head injured patients without hypoxia that are clinically difficult to manage.

Chemical SedationDefinitionsAcute Behavioural Disturbance -– Is a situation in

which a patient’s behavior becomes so unusual, bizarre, threatening, or dangerous that it alarms the patient or family and includes signs of imminent intentional or unintentional self-harm.

Sedation - The physiological calming effect/response of medication given, which may range from calming the person so they are no longer displaying anger or anxiety, to a state of rousable drowsiness.

Midazolam

Short acting medication in benzodiazepine classPossesses potent anxiolytic, amnesic, hypnotic,

anticonvulsant, sedative and muscle relaxant properties

Rapid onset of action, low toxicity and rapid recovery time

DroperidolNeuroleptic medication of the butyrophenone groupProduces marked tranquillisation and sedationallays apprehension and provides a state of mental

detachment and indifference while maintaining a state of reflex alertness

Has an antiemetic effectReduces motor activity, anxiety, and causes sedation; Possesses adrenergic-blocking, antihistaminic, &

anticonvulsive propertiesUsed in short-term management of disturbed behaviour

and severe anxiety

NSW Ambulance has officially launched our new winter campaign. Our Triple Zero (000) call takers answer a call for help on average every 26 seconds. Just 10 per cent of these calls are for patients with life-threatening conditions. A further 40 per cent are for low acuity conditions. In times of peak demand, such as winter, this places extra pressure on all NSW Ambulance resources. We don't expect patient demand to change. Ultimately it is our responsibility to ensure that we make the #rightcall to get our patients the #rightcare ensuring in the process that we are using our resources in the most appropriate way.   The Is Your Urgency an Emergency? campaign educates and empowers the community about the range of treatment pathways available to them.To watch the Channel Ten news coverage of our winter campaign, click here To read about the campaign, as featured in the Daily Telegraph, click hereTo see the full media release click hereMake sure you follow our campaign on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .  

This campaign educates patients with non life-threatening or non-urgent conditions not to expect a double crewed stretcher ambulance response. Patients may be referred by NSW Ambulance Triple Zero (000) call takers or paramedics to Healthdirect Australia, which is staffed by registered nurses, or to the After Hours Medical Deputising Service which will provide a doctor to the patient's home.

  

 We get a wide range of calls for help from shortness of breath to broken fingers, coughs, colds and major trauma. The Is Your Urgency an Emergency? campaign urges Triple Zero (000) callers to trust us to get them the right care, using the resources available to us in the most appropriate way. That might be a single paramedic or a referral to a nurse at healthdirect Australia, a visit from the home doctor service, GP referral or a hospital transport when an emergency department can provide the most appropriate care.

NSW Ambulance has officially launched our new winter campaign. Our Triple Zero (000) call takers answer a call for help on average every 26 seconds. Just 10 per cent of these calls are for patients with life-threatening conditions. A further 40 per cent are for low acuity conditions. In times of peak demand, such as winter, this places extra pressure on all NSW Ambulance resources. We don't expect patient demand to change. Ultimately it is our responsibility to ensure that we make the #rightcall to get our patients the #rightcare ensuring in the process that we are using our resources in the most appropriate way.   The Is Your Urgency an Emergency? campaign educates and empowers the community about the range of treatment pathways available to them.To watch the Channel Ten news coverage of our winter campaign, click here To read about the campaign, as featured in the Daily Telegraph, click hereTo see the full media release click hereMake sure you follow our campaign on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .  

This campaign educates patients with non life-threatening or non-urgent conditions not to expect a double crewed stretcher ambulance response. Patients may be referred by NSW Ambulance Triple Zero (000) call takers or paramedics to Healthdirect Australia, which is staffed by registered nurses, or to the After Hours Medical Deputising Service which will provide a doctor to the patient's home.

  

 We get a wide range of calls for help from shortness of breath to broken fingers, coughs, colds and major trauma. The Is Your Urgency an Emergency? campaign urges Triple Zero (000) callers to trust us to get them the right care, using the resources available to us in the most appropriate way. That might be a single paramedic or a referral to a nurse at healthdirect Australia, a visit from the home doctor service, GP referral or a hospital transport when an emergency department can provide the most appropriate care.