Chris Curry

Could Tourist Boots Act as Vectors for Disease Transmission in Antarctica

BACKGROUND Over the last decade there has been a rapid increase in the number of visitors landing at wildlife sites on the Antarctic continent, and concern has been raised that tourists may transmit important pathogens to or between wildlife colonies. The aim of this study was to determine if tourist activities pose a potential threat to Antarctic wildlife, or possibly to human populations through carriage of pathogens on boots. METHODS In two trips conducted to Antarctica in the summer season of 2000/2001, swabs were collected from tourist boots: prior to landing, to determine baseline level of bacterial flora on the boots (A isolates); immediately on return to the ship, to quantify the level of contamination (B isolates); and after the boots were washed in seawater to determine the recovery of the organisms after cleaning (C isolates). Swabs were cultured for coliforms, and isolates identified using the API system. RESULTS Twenty organisms resembling coliforms were isolated from 15 of 72 pairs of boots. Two isolates were recovered from group A, 4 from group B, and 14 from group C. Of these 20 isolates, 11 could be identified using the API identification method. The remaining 9 isolates all produced an unknown but identical profile number. CONCLUSION These results indicate that current practices for cleaning the boots of tourists visiting Antarctic wildlife colonies may not be sufficient to prevent the transmission of pathogens, and indicate that further studies are needed to define the best method of disinfection.

A perspective on developing emergency medicine as a specialty

AimsA rapidly increasing number of countries are developing their capacities to respond to acute illness and injury and organizing emergency medicine training programs. This article offers some insight into the way emergency medicine has undergone development in the Australasian region.MethodsThe perspective is built from experience in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.ConclusionThe challenges are many, but with persistence can be surmounted. Lessons derived from these diverse environments are presented.

Academic emergency medicine in India and international collaboration

Pankaj Arora, Anita Bhavnani, Tamorish Kole and Chris Curry Department of Emergency Medicine, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Department of Emergency Medicine, Saint Peter’s University Hospital, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA; Accident & Emergency Services, Max Healthcare, New Delhi, India; and Department of Emergency Medicine, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia

International emergency medicine: Building on a strong information-sharing foundation

Gerard M O’Reilly and Chris Curry Emergency and Trauma Centre, The Alfred Hospital, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, International Emergency Medicine Special Interest Group, Australasian College for Emergency Medicine, Emergency Department, Fremantle Hospital, Fremantle, and School of Primary, Aboriginal and Rural Health Care, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Time to analgesia in an emergency department in Eastern Nepal

Nepal is a least developed country, with limited healthcare resources. An 18 month Fellowship in Emergency Medicine has contributed some improvements to care. This study assessed time to first analgesia in higher and lower acuity patients.