Goals:

• Increase your knowledge of the anatomy of the hand
• How to perform and interpret an excellent examination of the hand
• Learn and discuss the clinical pearls & pitfalls in assessing and supervising hand injuries

Hand injuries, ranging from simple benign to complex high morbidity, are frequently seen in the ED. Unfortunately a significant part of these injuries are missed, due to a lack of knowledge and skills. Missed injuries of the hand potentially lead to serious and disabling consequences for patients. As emergency care providers, it is our mission to provide care with state-of-the-art knowledge and skills on hand and finger injuries. We offer a concise and integral workshop on hand & finger examination aimed at medical professionals as a refresher course or as an eye-opener.

What does it bring?

• A handy clear PowerPoint presentation as an addition to the NVSHA hand injury map
• Tips in Supervising Hand Injuries
• Learn about the many apparently benign hand emergencies that have serious morbidity, including the boxers knuckle, skier’s thumb, fight bites and many more important hand emergencies.

Patients are like crime scenes. Who done it, what happened, who is the killer? As emergency physicians we operate in the unknown. Our work starts when no one has the information yet.

Observation skills are our main tools. When patients come in, we need to assess within seconds while not getting trapped in the assumptions of another.

Do you spot that one fact that changes everything? Are you able to truly observe and not jump to conclusions?

Observation is an art form; good artists find the exceptional in the ordinary. Together we will analyse cold cases, change the way you look at art and our patients. We can’t find what we don’t see!

“A patient ingested a ‘suicide powder’, are we at risk of inhaling toxic gas from the patient’s breath?” “We have a patient that vomited after ingestion of a pesticide product, should we use these ‘big suits’ while decontaminating?”

These are just some examples of enquiries the Dutch Poisons Information Centre (NVIC) receives from hospital personnel. Over the years, the NVIC notices an increased concern about secondary exposure when treating chemically contaminated patients. In some cases, disproportionate precautions were taken such as evacuation of the emergency department. In this interactive workshop the participants will work together in groups to assess: the health risk for hospital personnel and for which circumstances and chemicals standard protection (gloves, gown) will suffice and in which cases more elaborate protection (air-purifying respirator) is necessary.

The ultrasound section invites you to an interesting workshop regarding the basics in nerve blocks. The faculty will guide you through the basics of peripheral ultrasound guided nerve blocks.