Legal Aspects
- The ARC Guidelines The Australian Resuscitation Council is a voluntary co-ordinating body which represents all major groups involved in the teaching and practice of resuscitation. The Australian Resuscitation Council is sponsored by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists.
- Australian Emergency Law - Nurses as ‘good Samaritans’ – can I be liable if I do stop? Discussion on the law that applies to or affects Australia's emergency services and emergency management, by Michael Eburn, PhD and Barrister.
- A brief primer on Good Samaritan law for health care Professionals - Database Article The Good Samaritan law is not found on the statute books, but has been a concept that courts have applied as public policy. However, this has recently changed in all the states and territories in Australia with the codification of Good Samaritan law. This paper is a timely reminder for health practitioners of the doctrine of the Good Samaritan, as well as the relative legal uncertainty of rescue at common law.
- Ethics & Law for Australian Nurses - Book The second edition of Ethics and Law for Australian Nurses is comprehensive in approach and allows students to understand the relationship between the legal and ethical frameworks of nursing practice.
- Ethics and Legal Concepts in Nursing Consent - Clickview Video To protect patient's interests in health care, principles of informed consent have been developed to ensure a person's right to decide the type of treatments they are prepared to receive.
- Ethics and legal concepts in nursing introduction. - Library DVD This program explores ethics in nursing, with reference to the Australian Code of Nursing Ethics. It defines ethics, and explains why it is critical that nurses know about ethics and the standards of behaviour that are demanded by their profession.
- How to Obtain Consent Nurses obtain consent before every action they perform. From asking a patient to allow an assessment, to getting informed consent for a procedure, everything that happens to your patient must be performed with their knowledge and agreement.
- Laws surrounding First Aid Laws surrounding first aid The model W.H.S laws impose health and safety duties in relation to first aid. You can find details of those duties in the model Code of Practice: First Aid in the Workplace. The Code also has practical information about working out your first aid requirements, equipment, facilities and training needs.
Websites & Professional Bodies
- Emergency Triage Education Kit This is a workbook published by the Department of Health. The Emergency Triage Education Kit aims to provide further support to Triage Nurses. This revised edition includes more than 150 scenarios designed to strengthen Triage Nurses’ assessment skills. It also covers complex areas such as mental health, paediatrics, obstetrics and rural/remote triage. It aims to help nurses provide better assistance to people presenting to emergency departments.
- Guidelines on the Implementation of the Australasian Triage Scale in Emergency Departments Guidelines for Triage aims to ensure that patients are treated in the order of their clinical urgency which refers to the need for time-critical intervention.
- International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) was formed in 1992 to provide a forum for liaison between principal resuscitation organisations worldwide. Although the criteria for participation were not closely defined, member organisations were expected to have an accepted remit for creating resuscitation guidelines, preferably for more than one country, and to be multidisciplinary in membership
- Poisons Information Centre Runs poisons information phone hotline. Call this number if you think someone has taken an overdose, made an error with medicine or been poisoned. You can call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from anywhere in Australia.
- St. John Ambulance Australia St John Ambulance Australia provides services throughout Australia, including: First aid services, Care services, First aid training, First aid equipment and resources
D.R.A.B.C.D and First Aid Skills
- Disability and cultural considerations in the delivery of first aid - Database Article This article, the seventh in a series of eight, covers a range of issues that nurses may come across when providing first aid treatment to people with disabilities or those with cultural backgrounds different from their own.
- Emergency First Aid in the Care Home - Clickview Video Every workplace must make provisions for emergency first aid and this video explains the basic procedures involved in the most common emergency first aid situations.
- Emergency First Aid in the Workplace - Clickview Video Wherever your staff may work there is always the chance that they will need to deal with accidents and emergencies. Knowing how to react to these incidents and perform first aid effectively can mean the difference between life and death.
- First aid: basic procedures for nurses - Database Article Nurses who encounter a road traffic accident or a person who has collapsed in the community often feel ill-prepared to assist. This article sketches a likely scenario and outlines the procedures to undertake if one of the following emergencies arose: care of the unconscious casualty; cardiac arrest; haemorrhage; chest pain; choking; and fractures.
- First aid: cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) - Clickview Video This safety snippet outlines how to administer CPR if you find a casualty who is unconscious and not breathing.
- First Aid: Unconscious Casualty (DRSABCD) - Clickview Video D.R.S.A.B.C.D. (DRSABCD) is an emergency action plan that can be used if you find an unconscious person.
- First Aid Fact Sheets - St John Downloadable fact sheets about a wide range of first aid situations.
- First Aid Techniques - Clickview Video (2013) This video provides an overview of the main areas of first aid training, including: what to do in an emergency; legal and moral aspects of first aid; heart attack, stroke, diabetic shock, epilepsy; CPR and hands-only CPR; fractures, dislocations, strains and sprains; neck, head and spinal injuries; burns, scalds, electrocution; cuts, lacerations, bleeding; asthma, allergies and anaphylaxis; poisoning and overdose; and hypothermia and hyperthermia.
- First aid training in pro-registration nurse education - Database Article This article aims to increase awareness of the lack of first aid skills among nurses and midwives. It is intended to appeal to and challenge students and registered practitioners to assess their first aid skills in practice and to seek the necessary training to improve and update their skills.
- Guidelines on the Implementation of the Triage Scale in Emergency Departments PDF produced by the Department of Health and Aging.
- Home is Where the Heart Stops - Clickview Video Written according to latest international resuscitation guidelines for audiences young and old of all learning styles, the video effectively communicates the key basic life support principles with clear and simple instruction, innovative analogies, on-screen text and animations and tongue-in-cheek humour.
- Introducing D.R.S.A.B.C.D - Clickview Video This health and safety training video snippet demonstrates an individual finding an unconscious breathing person in an office environment and following the D.R.S.A.B.C.D. procedure: Danger, Response, Send for help, Airway, Breathing, CPR, Defibrillation
- Introduction to the nurse's role in providing first aid - Database Article Article published in Nursing Standard(Vol. 24, Issue 4.)
- NIFAT Ask an Expert Do you have a question you cant find the answer to? Why not try an expert. The National Institute of First Aid Trainers is pleased to facilitate an Ask an Expert panel for all first aid educators (members and non-members).
- R.I.C.E.R. - Clickview Video If a person is injured at work, it is important to take action immediately. Two common workplace injuries are a sprained ankle or wrist. The RICER response plan provides a clear set of actions to help in these situations
- Recovery Position - Clickview Video The recovery position is a safe and stable position for an unconscious breathing person, helping to minimise any further harm to them.
- Safety Hub Videos Videos include Cuts and Bleeding, Burns, Blood born pathogens, CPR