The authors have no funding sources to declare. 3Abstract Purpose: To describe the epidemiology of eye trauma presenting to a regional referral health service in New South Wales, Australia. Methods:A two-stage retrospective and prospective case series study was conducted. Patients who presented with eye trauma to Wagga Wagga Base Hospital (WWBH) emergency department (ED) during a one year review period formed the retrospective case series (RCS). Patient inclusion was determined using SNOMED CT and ICD-10 codes applied to medical records. Patients presenting with eye trauma to the WWBH ED or its ophthalmology service over a prospective 80 day study period formed the prospective case series (PCS). The main outcome measures were patient demographics, eye trauma incidence for Wagga Wagga and the Murrumbidgee region and injury details.

Sri Lanka is a low-income country with a relatively advanced, equitable and accessible health-care system offered to its 20 million populations free of charge through a national pro-poor health policy. Its weaknesses in emergency services, however, surfaced in 2004 when it faced the Tsunami, the worst natural disaster of the world of the 21st century. Since then, the local health community with the assistance of the government and foreign aid agencies have embarked on a path to establish emergency services, improve its preparedness for disaster management and establishment of emergency medicine training. The present article traces this path and how it is evolving in the country.

BackgroundTo document the pharmacotherapy of chronic heart failure (CHF) and to evaluate the adherence to treatment guidelines in Australian population.MethodsThe pharmacological management of 677 patients (female 46.7%, 75.5 ± 11.6 years) with CHF was retrospectively analyzed.ResultsThe use of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) and β-blockers were 58.2 % and 34.7 %, respectively. Major reasons for non-use of ACE inhibitors/ARBs were hyperkalemia and elevated serum creatinine level. For patients who did not receive β-blockers, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were the main contraindications. Treatment at or above target dosages for ACE inhibitors/ARBs and β-blockers was low for each medication (40.3% and 28.9%, respectively).ConclusionsEvidenced-based medical therapies for heart failure were under used in a rural patient population. Further studies are required to develop processes to improve the optimal use of heart failure medications.