Coda Change

This presentation will summarise the best recent science in cardiac arrest and shock management, and bring you up to date with what every one else is talking about. For more head to: codachange.org/podcasts

The Coda community have identified the Climate Emergency as the most urgent threat to global health. There is overwhelming scientific evidence that the climate crisis will become catastrophic if we don't take action immediately. This episode of CodaZero Earth focuses on action stage one – 'identify' and lays the foundations for stage two - 'examine' (as set out in our Five Stage action process). We outline the urgency of the challenges that global healthcare faces and how as health professionals, we must sound the alarm for both our patients and for our children. Conversation one dives into how gas is often positioned as a “safer transition fuel” when in fact it is completely unnecessary and a potential super-pollutant. The panel critically assesses the interrelationship of power, wealth and influence in government and how to overcome the sceptics in the fight for truth about the grave threat the #climateEmergency poses to health. Then, we move on to how the climate crisis is exacerbating existing Injustice and Inequity, disproportionately impacting those patients without access to universal health care. Additionally our younger population and our children are the most likely to be affected by the climate emergency,however, they have limited power of persuasion in the crucial decisions that we make today, which will impact on their tomorrow. Conversation three defines what sustainable healthcare is. Health care accounts for 5-7% of the global carbon emissions. The healthcare community and supporting industries must commit to Corporate Social Responsibility goals and demand products, packaging and materials which have a minimal impact on the environment. We need to consider the super-cycle of high turnover, disposable waste and to challenge ourselves to consider alternatives such as reusable gowns. The overall target must be NetZero by 2050! Finally, we examine how the pandemic response has shown us the way forward for climate action. The first step of managing the pandemic was to stop the problem growing, similarly, the first step to combat the climate emergency is to stop the burning of fossil fuels. Then, we must build the capacity of our systems to adapt to the crisis, just as we built health capacity and finally we must search for the ‘climate vaccine’ which means drawing CO2 out of our atmosphere. Our premise is first do no harm but “time is planet” and we need to get moving. For more head to: codachange.org/podcasts

In Australia a 300 bed hospital uses the same amount of Energy as 5000 to 10000 homes. In many ways what we do at work really does matter. The good news is that this is a solvable problem and in some ways the Covid19 pandemic has shown us the steps to facing the Climate Emergency. Just as we learnt that first step for managing the pandemic was to stop the problem growing by limiting spread with physical distancing we know that our first step in controlling our carbon emissions is to stop burning fossil fuels. Secondly to deal with the crisis already at hand we must build capacity and resilience, not just in our health systems but also in our environmental systems. Thirdly the climate emergency equivalent of the search for a pandemic vaccine is the need for us to find a means of drawing CO2 back out of the atmosphere. We can draw CO2 out of the atmosphere through both our forests and the ocean. We have already worked out these simple steps to solving the #ClimateEmergency, but the problem we face is a lack of willpower to implement them. How do we overcome this inertia? What levers can we pull to start taking these steps in the right direction? The levers we can employ include: 1. Legal actions against governments and institutions for inaction 2. Economic by divesting from fossil fuels 3. Supporting independent science based groups to combat the concentrated media disinformation 4. Target climate sceptics within government. Get political For more head to: codachange.org/podcasts

Healthcare accounts for 5-7% of global carbon emissions, which equate to approximately all or the emissions from either Japan or Russia. A large part of those carbon emissions come from the manufacturing of medical devices and pharmaceuticals (‘Procurement’). This provides tremendous opportunities for us to drive how the medical technology industry designs and produces these goods in order to reduce carbon emissions. We must take responsibility for the entire life-cycle of what we consume in the delivery of healthcare – This responsibility is termed ‘Product Stewardship’. However, there is a general lack of Governance in sustainable healthcare delivery. Healthcare workers, hospital administrators and government themselves lack awareness of our shared responsibilities in this area. As clinicians the lowest carbon footprint clinical test is the omission of unnecessary tests. In many ways low-middle income countries lead the way here as they have never embraced the super-cycle of high turnover disposable waste. As institutions like the Canadian Medical Association, the UK NHS and the Lancet Countdown commit to NetZero healthcare by 2050 we must demand the same from our medical device and pharmaceutical partners. Our first premise has always been “First do no harm”. For more head to: codachange.org/podcasts

Social inequalities mean that many patients without access to universal healthcare are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis given that their chronic health conditions are exacerbated but they cannot afford to seek treatment. Additionally intergenerational inequality means that younger generations will be more adversely affected by the climate emergency, but at the same time are less likely to have a voice in decisions effecting the actions we take now. It is essential that both the healthcare community and industry realise our shared Corporate Social Responsibilities. We must act together on this across the entire health industry supply chain. Additionally our colleges and universities need to be including education on both adaptation and mitigation strategies for the climate emergency into curricula. Currently 85% of medical students from around the world report no education on the #ClimateEmergency. #ClimateEmergency deniers protecting their own interests, threaten our children’s’ future and in doing so their actions feel almost predatory. We need to shift our thinking and acknowledge the threat to our children. For more head to: codachange.org/podcasts

The Coda community identified the Climate Emergency as the greatest threat to global health and we have good reason to be alarmed for both our patients and our children. There is good scientific evidence that the climate crisis could be catastrophic. The global healthcare community comprises over 60 million people and together we can make a difference. Global CO2 emissions continue to rise resulting in more energy trapped in our atmosphere and putting us on the verge of a tipping point. We must act now. We are all used to practising with a time imperative in healthcare, we know that “Time is muscle” for the heart and that “Time is brain” for stoke – In the case of the Climate Emergency… “”Time is Planet”! Part of the problem for governments is that Power, Wealth and Influence skew the discussions around the climate emergency and in some ways the Fossil Fuel Industry has employed similar tactics to those taken by the Tobacco Industry lobbyists. Lobbyists have tried to promote ‘Gas’ as a safer transition fuel as we move from ‘Coal-fire’ energy, but Gas too is a potential super-pollutant and completely unnecessary. For more head to: codachange.org/podcasts

Financial institutions may not be known sustainability, but tune in to this session to see what is changing. What are the Green Bonds? Social impact bonds?Join Mark Peacock and Roger Harris in conversation.

Drug abuse is a worldwide problem responsible for a considerable number of deaths, functional dependence, and healthcare costs. Use continues to rise throughout the world and synthetic drugs have been added to the repertoire alongside cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine. The acute intoxicating effects on the brain are well known; however, an understanding of the neurological complications is important in the acute period to guide workup and treatment. This panel is in the SMACC Brain pre-conference workshop will review neurological complications of intravenous drugs including endocarditis and the resultant septic emboli and stroke, intracerebral hemorrhages, and aneurysms. We will also dive into the less well-known neurological sequelae of other drugs including some not-so-uncommon zebras. For more head to: codachange.org/podcasts

Brandon Foreman shares top 10 signs of neurological badness. For more head to: codachange.org/podcasts

Ever wondered what life holds after discharge from ICU for the families and partners of patients with a severe brain injury? This interview-style session will focus on the challenges, unexpected good and bad outcomes, positive and negative impacts on relationships, and other issues experienced by patients’ loved ones post-ICU. Hearing first-hand from a patient’s primary carer will highlight that ICU is only an extremely small component of a patient’s long journey to recovery and remind those involved in neurocritical care that whilst short-term physical outcomes dominate in a patient’s acute ICU stay, it is the long-term functional and social outcomes that ultimately matter most to patients and their families. It is easy to be distracted by the physical problems, but we must not forget the potential impacts of a severe brain injury on higher cognitive functioning when discussing long-term prognoses with families.