SAQ Stack
Short Answer Questions for ED Fellowship Study
Alcoholic ketoacidosis with mixed acid-base disorder
A 63-year-old woman with alcohol use disorder presents with abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting after heavy alcohol intake. A venous …
Acute urinary retention and paraphimosis
A 70-year-old man presents with 24 hours of painful acute urinary retention.
Cavitating pneumonia in intravenous drug use
A 30-year-old man with a history of intravenous drug use presents with fever, productive cough, dyspnoea and haemoptysis. His obs …
MI thrombolysis
A 50-year-old man presents to a peripheral ED without access to cardiac catheterisation with 1.5 hours of chest pain, hypotension …
Infant bronchiolitis
A 14-month-old girl presents with 2 days of increasing work of breathing and wheeze following a viral prodrome. Her initial …
Paced syncope
An 85-year-old woman with a history of ischaemic heart disease and a DDD pacemaker presents with palpitations and syncope.
Potassium permanganate ingestion
A 64-year-old man presents after ingesting potassium permanganate crystals as a home remedy for leg cramps.
Methanol poisoning
A 31-year-old man presents with vertigo and blurred vision after ingesting home-distilled alcohol. He initially had vomiting and abdominal pain …
Loperamide misuse and long QT
A young man presents with palpitations after chronic loperamide misuse (400–600 mg/day). An ECG is performed.
Paediatric calcium channel blocker ingestion
A 4-year-old girl presents after ingesting an unknown amount of her grandmother’s diltiazem.
Hyperthermia and seizure after club drug use
A 25-year-old woman is brought to ED after a self-terminating seizure at a nightclub. Collateral history suggests recreational drug use. …
Acute mental illness and ED systems
A 26-year-old man with schizophrenia and polysubstance use presents with severe agitation and requires involuntary psychiatric admission.
Registrar burnout and rostering
A nightshift registrar reports excessive night shifts and burnout during morning handover.
Postpartum psychosis with infant safety
A 23-year-old woman is brought to ED by police with bizarre behaviour four weeks postpartum, found wandering with her infant …
Interpreting clinical research statistics
You are reading an article about a new anticoagulant for the management of atrial fibrillation.
Impaired colleague and mandatory reporting
You discover a consultant colleague injecting fentanyl in the trauma room. The colleague has a history of anxiety and depression …
Death certification and coroner notification
A 78-year-old man with advanced dementia dies in the ED overnight with a suspected ruptured AAA previously deemed unsuitable for …
Did Not Wait patient safety
Your department experienced an adverse event where a patient left without being seen and was later found deceased. You are …
Missed Lisfranc injury complaint
You receive a complaint from a patient regarding a missed injury. The patient was discharged from the ED with a …
Mass casualty incident preparation
A grandstand has collapsed at a football ground with up to 400 injured people. You are the duty consultant in …
Major incident blast injuries
A bomb has detonated at a music concert and a major incident has been declared. Over 40 casualties with blast …
Epidural haematoma with rural deterioration
A previously well 35-year-old man presents to a rural ED 90 km from the nearest trauma centre following an isolated …
Diving collapse and decompression illness
You are part of a helicopter retrieval service dispatched to a patient who has collapsed on a dive boat on …
Hydrofluoric acid burn
A 42-year-old man presents to your emergency department at midnight with a history of gradually increasing pain to the fingertips …