The New Zealand medical journal
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To describe the effect of a pilot national telephone advice service (Healthline) on a public hospital emergency department. ⋯ Healthline had little effect on overall ED census and appeared to refer patients with similar acuity to the general ED census. It decreased the workload for ED nursing staff charged with answering advice calls.
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The large number of anaesthetics administered means that the total cost to a hospital of inhalational anaesthetic agent such as isoflurane or sevoflurane can be considerable. The total anaesthetic gas flow is a major determinant of the use of these agents. Modern anaesthetic machines and monitoring facilitate reduced gas flows, which can significantly reduce wastage of these anaesthetic agents. The purpose of this study was to audit gas flow rates and volatile anaesthetic use. ⋯ Given the low flows used, the small difference between study periods was not surprising. The gas flows recorded represent responsible use of anaesthetic agents and are at least as good as flows achieved in previous studies that employed various methods to encourage their reduction.