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Biomedical subjects

J Pearn

Publications and source records attributed to J Pearn.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
PubMed1977

Emotional sequelae of parents and sibs following the drowning or near-drowning of a child.

This study reports the findings from an investigation to evaluate the intra-family dynamics that occurred with 111 cases of childhood drowning and near-drowning in the City of Brisbane in 1971-1975. Personal interviews were obtained with 77 of the families. 24 per cent of parent-dyads separated following the drowning of their child, whereas none of the 54 families of surviving children separated. Accident generated stresses within the studied families tended to persist for years after the incident. Parents volunteered the information that they drank more, experienced sleep disorders and nightmares, and reported significant anxiety states. 19 per cent of parents of drowned children received specialist psychiatric treatment following the drowning. Two cases of surviving children received specialist psychiatric therapy (these were both parents who had inflicted non-accidental injury on their child, and had attempted to drown their child in the bath). In one sense, a child's death is more honourable from society's point of view if the child dies from a chronic medical illness such as leukaemia. In the case of a child's death in the family bath tub or the backyard swimming pool, the extra society sanctions of culpability and accusation further intensified the likelihood of the normal grief process being transformed into a pathological variant.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Utilization of prenatal cytogenetic diagnosis in women of advanced maternal age in Australia, 1979-1982.

This paper reports the results of a complete national survey to measure utilization rates of prenatal cytogenetic diagnosis (P.C.D.) in women of advanced maternal age in Australia. P.C.D. has been available throughout Australia for the last decade. Every laboratory in Australia providing a P.C.D. service for the years 1979-1982 took part in this study. Utilization rates (both National and State rates) by ages of mothers, are presented. Big interstate differences exist. The 1982 National P.C.D. utilization rate for pregnant women who were 40 years of age and over was 38.8 per cent, and this rate has shown an average annual increase of 9 per cent. In those four States which offered P.C.D. to pregnant women of 35 years or over the median utilization rate was 20 per cent. These Australian rates indicate an under-utilization of P.C.D. services with (in 1982) 50-80 per cent of 'at risk' women not being tested. Factors which influence this are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The impact of prenatal diagnosis on the occurrence of chromosome abnormalities.

From the public health point of view, several formal attempts have been made to measure the impact of prenatal diagnosis (PND) on the incidence of Down's Syndrome (DS), but the results have varied widely. The impact of PND (reduction in the birth rate of chromosomally abnormal neonates) is related to utilization rates but quantitative estimates of this have not been established. In a three-year (1981-1983) total population study from Queensland, Australia, we present results to measure the impact of a voluntary PND programme on the birth incidence of DS, and also other chromosomally abnormal births. Utilization rates for the PND service were 15.5 per cent in that population of mothers 35 years and over. Numbers and rates of all cases of chromosomal abnormalities are presented, subclassified by type of diagnosis--either by PND or by clinical diagnosis after birth. For the total population, 7.3 per cent of cases of DS were detected prenatally, and 15.4 per cent of all chromosome abnormalities. (A method for measuring the impact of PND is described.) Using this in conjunction with our demographic data, we estimate that with a 15 per cent utilization rate of PND by older mothers, 14 per cent of DS births can be prevented in this age group, or a 5 per cent overall reduction can be achieved if mothers of all ages are considered. One index--the ratio of the percentage of DS births which are preventable compared with the population utilization rates of PND--has potential for widespread use. Queensland data for this ratio is 0.34, a figure consistent with that from other studies. Thus a 3.5 per cent drop in the overall DS birth rate may be expected for each 10 per cent increase in the utilization rates of PND for mothers of 35 years and over. A diagram is presented which may serve as a model for improved data collection and better impact estimates in the future.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The earliest days of first aid.

First aid, as a profession in its own right, has a history of only 120 years. It evolved from the teachings of the Royal Humane Society and military surgeons, who saw the wisdom of training in splinting and bandaging for battlefield wounds. In 1878 two Aberdeenshire military officers, Surgeon-Major Peter Shepherd of the Royal Herbert Military Hospital, Woolwich, London, and Colonel Francis Duncan established the concept of teaching first aid skills to civilians. This radical new enterprise, conducted under the auspices of the newly formed St John Ambulance Association, was a natural evolution from the body's philanthropic and ambulance transport work. Shepherd conducted the first class in the hall of the Presbyterian school in Woolwich using a comprehensive first aid curriculum that he had developed. Within months of that first class, local Woolwich civilians used their skills when the pleasure boat Princess Alice sank in the Thames at Woolwich, killing 600 people. Within a decade, the new discipline of first aid spread rapidly throughout the world, and by the end of the 19th century, hundreds of thousands of St John first aid certificates had been awarded in four continents. Shepherd's pioneering classes changed the world's concept of the need for the provision of skilled prehospital care.

Curriculum↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Studies on the venom of Oxyuranus microlepidotus.

The Australian Small-scaled Snake, Oxyuranus microlepidotus , recently rediscovered, is the world's most venomous snake, with a murine LD50 of 0.01 mg/kg. Recently developed immunological techniques, combined with a whole animal model, have enabled us to measure accurately the mass of venom actually injected by a striking snake. The venom of this species contains at least six identified protein fractions, and one or more of these possesses potent neurotoxic action. An initial assessment of the molecular weights of each of these is reported. This study describes field biting experiments applicable to potential human snake-bite, and presents data concerning the injected venom:LD50 ratio which is an index of potential human lethality. This snake delivers an average mass of 17.3 mg in a strike, and the injected mass:LD50 ratio is 1730, the highest recorded for any snake. Comparative results for five other Elapidae whose venom contains potent neurotoxins are also presented. An average mass of 0.6 mg of venom is split on the skin surface during a strike, and 40% of this can be recovered within three hours after a simulated bite. As with other Elapidae studied to date, an adequate mass of venom remains on the skin for an accurate species diagnosis to be made in the case of human snake-bite.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Freshwater drowning and near-drowning accidents involving children: a five-year total population study.

A large total population study of childhood fresh water immersion accidents is reported. The study was undertaken in the City of Brisbane over the five-year period 1971 to 1975 inclusive, and 111 fresh water immersion accidents involving children were studied and analysed. The childhood fresh water immersion accident rate, including drowning and near-drownings, of 10-43 per year per 100,000 at risk (fatality rate of 5-17) is the highest reported. If an unsupervised child gets into difficulties in fresh water and loses consciousness he has a 50% chance of dying. The immersion accident rate has doubled over the last six years. Age-specific immersion accident rates have been calculated, and have revealed that, in the toddler group (12 months to 23 months), the fresh water immersion accident rate is 50-01 per 100,000 (fatality rate of 22-55). Rates for drowning and near-drowning accidents after a fresh water immersion, by site, age and outcome (survival versus fatality), are also presented for the first time. Swimming pools produce 6-20 immersion accidents per year per 100,000 children at risk, and the domestic family bath tub produces 1-78. Possible factors explaining the high incidence are discussed, and comparisons of drowning rates from other centres are made.

Accidents↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Dr John Thomson (1847-1909). Pioneer surgeon, military surgeon and a founder of St John Ambulance in Australia.

Surgeon John Thomson (1847-1909), a Scot who made his life's work in Queensland, was a pioneer surgeon, radiologist and bacteriologist, and one of the founders of the St John Ambulance movement in Australia and the Railway Ambulance Corps. He was variously President of the British Medical Association (Queensland Branch), the Medical Board of Queensland, the Medico-Ethical Association, and the Intercolonial Medical Congress, which was held in Brisbane in 1899. A pioneer military surgeon in this country, he was the foundation Principal Medical Officer (as Surgeon-Major) of the Queensland Ambulance Corps within the Queensland Defence Force. His advocacy for a university north of Sydney was one of the factors which led to the foundation of the University of Queensland, a body which honoured him by the establishment of the John Thomson Lectureship, which for half a century was its most prestigious public oration. The life and times of this singular doctor exemplify one small class of pre-Federation medical pioneers whose professional outreach established a number of voluntary organisations which have blossomed in Australian society to the present day.

Ambulances↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The enchanted herb: the work of early medical botanists in Australia.

The surgeons of the First Fleet sought not only adventure, but new herbal remedies that were awaiting discovery in the Australian bush. Within days of the foundation of the Colony at Sydney Cove in 1788, therapeutic experiments with wild currants, Eucalyptus kino (Botany Bay kino), and local "greens" were being undertaken. Scurvy and dysentery--part of the nation's foundation--prompted both a hunter-gatherer approach to new herbal remedies, and an empiricism which has continued to the present day. At least four of the 10 doctors of the First Fleet were keen botanists, and their endeavours established a precedent for medical "botanizing" which has become a living tradition over the ensuing 200 years. Before the onset of the 20th century, some 50 doctors who had studied botany in Australia had had their names appended to the native flora of the new continent. The eponyms that are preserved in the taxonomy of the country's flora comprise one record of the living history of Australia.

Australia↗