Alleged mismanagement of obstetric emergencies is the leading cause of litigation in pre-hospital practice. This text and the accompanying course are designed to prepare practitioners to identify and manage a range of time-critical obstetric emergencies specifically in the pre-hospital setting. It emphasises a structured examination and assessment technique as an aid to determining what treatment should be provided before transport as well as when and how urgently transport should be initiated.
POET aims to provide an introduction to the obstetric patient and the anatomical and physiological changes that occur during pregnancy (including interpretation of patient-held records and assessment of the obstetric patient). It describes the definitions, risk factors, diagnosis and pre-hospital management of problems that might occur throughout the different stages pregnancy and which the pre-hospital practitioner may be required to attend. It addresses emergencies in early pregnancy (including miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy); emergencies in late pregnancy and delivery (including eclampsia, ante-partum haemorrhage, shoulder dystocia and umbilical cord problems); post-delivery emergencies (including post-partum haemorrhage and uterine inversion); and management of non-obstetric emergencies in the pregnant patient (including trauma, cardiac and respiratory disease, the management of cardiac arrest and shock during pregnancy, acute psychiatric illness in pregnancy).
This text and accompanying course have been authored by practitioners from the obstetric, paramedic, and midwifery professions.
