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Asthma Boy

Thousands of people with asthma suffer debilitating side-effects

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Thousands of people with asthma are suffering with debilitating side-effects after taking medicine to treat their illness, a charity warns. Patients suffer weight gain, sleeplessness and depression after taking oral steroids with some developing cataracts, diabetes, brittle bones and even suicidal thoughts, Asthma UK found.

Samantha Walker, director of research and policy at Asthma UK, said: ‘Oral steroids are so toxic.’ Thousands of asthma patients reported sleeplessness, weight gain and even suicidal thoughts after taking oral steroids (Picture: Getty) Most of the 200,000 people in Britain with severe asthma are prescribed oral steroid tablets to reduce attacks. Tests have shown the drugs can cut the number of asthma attacks by up to 50% in some patients, The Times reports. If Theresa May really cares about workers’ rights she should ban tipping altogether The drugs work by blocking the effects of certain chemicals in the immune system, Asthma UK said. But a poll of thousands of people who suffer with asthma, conducted by the charity, found the drugs can leave some users depressed and suicidal.

More than half of those surveyed said they had put on weight after taking oral steroids and a similar amount reported increased hunger and sleeplessness. More than a third admitted they felt more anxious and had less energy on the drugs while slightly more people said they felt ‘irritable’ and suffered with tearfulness. Dr Walker warned that even low doses of oral steroids ‘should be avoided whenever possible’. Preventer inhalers contain low doses.

Asthma UK is calling for widespread use of monoclonal antibodies to replace oral steroids in treating asthma patients (Picture: PA) Andy Whittamore, clinical lead at Asthma UK and a practising GP, told The Times oral steroids are ‘stronger than inhalers’. ‘If people take high doses over a long period of time there can be nasty side-effects,’ he said. Young man discovers he has dementia at just 23 years old The charity is now calling for widespread use of a new generation of drugs called monoclonal antibodies. It argues the drugs have have been shown to cut the number of asthma attacks by 40% to 50% in suitable patients. While some of the drugs are already approved for NHS use, doctors have been slow to adopt them, Dr Walker said. Doctors tended to underappreciate the severity of side-effects for asthma patients, with assessment methods often not capturing their complexity, she said. How asthma affects patients Asthma affects the small tubes or airways that carry air in and out of the lungs, with attacks triggered by so-called allergens.

Allergens are substances that are harmless to the majority of people, but can cause an immune system reaction in those with the illness. This response leads to the lining of the lungs becoming inflamed and swollen, so the airways narrow, making it harder for air to pass through. Asthma is common but incurable and affects people of all ages – but often starts in childhood. Symptoms may improve or even go away as children grow older, but can return in adulthood. They include wheezing, breathlessness, a tight chest and coughing which get worse during an asthma attack. Treatment usually involves medication which is inhaled to calm down the lungs. Triggers for the condition include dust, air pollution, exercise and infections such as cold or flu.

Source: NHS Last month, health watchdogs also gave the green light to a new treatment that dramatically improves the day-to-day lives of patients with severe asthma. The procedure involves a tiny probe that resembles a whisk being inserted into the lung. This emits heat that shrinks scarred lung tissue and aids breathing. Studies have showed it reduces emergency hospital admissions for life-threatening asthma attacks by 55% – and benefits continue for a decade after treatment.

 

Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2018/10/02/thousands-of-people-with-asthma-suffer-debilitating-side-effects-of-toxic-drugs-7996950/?ito=cbshare

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetroUK | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MetroUK/

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Epipen

First Aid Training course held locally for sporting groups

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  • Niki Bolam

 

 Prepared: Clancy and his mum would both like to thank Sitetrain, for the generous opportunity to complete this course, and Genevieve for her great training and assistance on the day.

Last Saturday, September 15, Sitetrain, a locally owned and operated business provided the last of their heavily subsidised, Basic First Aid courses to the Parkes and Forbes sporting communities.

The final course was held in Parkes and attended by some very interested participants who were driven in part to complete it through their desire to help themselves, loved ones, friends’ or grandparents, in the event of a medical emergency. Some of the reasons for attending included dealing with life threatening anaphylactic allergies, diabetic emergencies, severe asthma or the possibility of being presented with an older grandparent or friend exhibiting signs of a heart attack or stroke.

Clancy Bolam, year six at St. Laurence’s, proudly and successfully completed his basic first aid and CPR units under the watchful eye of trainer Genevieve Howard, being the youngest participant trained to date.  Clancy has been living with diagnosed life-threatening allergies since he was three and has had to previously administer his emergency EpiPen by himself.

Owners, Heidi and Damien Palazzi have been running their business which specialises in quality site-based training for the mining industry, between Forbes and Western Australia since 2010.   They very generously undertook, to offer subsidised First Aid training to local sporting groups, and this was the last of the current training days.

Genevieve Howard was the trainer on the day and ran the participants through their paces.  It was very interesting to note how things have changed over the course of some years, to make basic first aid simpler in some aspects, to remember and perform.  Including the ease of use of the new AED (Automated External Defibrillator) devices, now readily accessible in many public venues and the emergence of new types of medical emergencies including the poisoning of young children by ingestion of lithium button batteries, so common in remote controls, electronic devices and hearing aids these days.

Great to see more groups getting involved with first aid courses in their local area.

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Asthma Boy

Exercise-induced bronchoconstriction

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By science reporter Belinda Smith

Each ragged breath burned as I wheezed and strained to fill my lungs.

It was the final quarter of a particularly intense netball match, and to say I was struggling is a massive understatement.

I assumed I was unfit, but my teammate — who also happened to be a GP — thought otherwise.

It turned out I had exercise-induced bronchoconstriction or EIB, a condition that appears with intense exercise and produces asthma-like symptoms, even after you have stopped the activity.

The diagnosis was a huge surprise to me. I don’t have asthma, nor do I have a family history of respiratory issues.

But I am far from alone, said Norbert Berend, head of respiratory research at George Institute for Global Health in Sydney.

Up to half of competitive athletes get it. And EIB is super common in people with asthma, affecting about 90 per cent, Professor Berend added.

EIB is not to be confused with general breathlessness, either. A feature of EIB is the timing of the symptoms, which can peak after you finish exercising.

That made sense in my netball match. I had sat the third quarter out, so when I came on for the final quarter, my wheezing and chest tightness had well and truly kicked in.

It’s dry air, not cold, that triggers EIB

As you’re reading this, you’re probably breathing through your nose.

Even if it’s chilly outside, your nasal passages warm up and humidify air you inhale and filter out a lot of irritants such as pollen.

But start exercising hard, and you begin to breathe through your mouth.

You might be sucking in more oxygen, but you lose the humidifying benefits of nose breathing, said Mehra Haghi, a respiratory pharmaceutical scientist at University of Technology Sydney.

As dry air whooshes down into your lungs and out again, it whisks water away from cells lining your lower airways.

Those cells release inflammatory molecules. The smooth muscle wrapping around your airways constricts, like a belt being cinched in.

“That’s when you feel the tightness and the feeling of being unable to breathe,” Dr Haghi said.

And other environmental triggers, such as pollution and pollen, can intensify EIB.

I tend to notice symptoms more in cold weather, but that’s not because of the temperature: it’s because cold air can’t hold as much water as warm air.

Far more winter Olympians have the condition compared to their summer counterparts.

It seems our furry friends get EIB of sorts, too. A 2002 study of “canine winter athletes” found more airway inflammation in elite Alaskan racing sled dogs than sedentary pooches.

Diagnosing EIB can be straightforward

If you suspect you have EIB, get yourself to a GP. You might also need to see a specialist.

While there’s no questionnaire or tool to diagnose the condition, Professor Berend said the first thing to do is to rule out asthma.

Asthma: what causes it? Here’s what we now know

It’s vastly more prevalent in Western societies, and usually develops in childhood. But what do we know about what causes asthma?

For some people, like me, diagnosing EIB is pretty straightforward.

For others, though, it’s not so clear cut.

“Under those circumstances you do tests,” Professor Berend said.

“A common one is you blow in a device as hard as you can, which registers your peak flow.

“Classically, with EIB, immediately after exercise you see a drop. And if that drop is more than 10 per cent, then you have EIB.”

Some people have this drop in peak flow without any symptoms, so while they technically have EIB, it doesn’t make them feel unwell.

“Of course there are other people who feel bad, but that’s not because they have EIB — it’s because they’re not fit,” Professor Berend said.

“And there are other causes of feeling breathless when you exercise, like heart disease and any number of lung diseases.”

Still, EIB is generally under-diagnosed or mis-diagnosed.

And because EIB can feel awful — believe me, I know — those who unknowingly have the condition might simply stop exercising, Professor Berend said.

Prevention is treatment

There are a few things you can do to stop or alleviate EIB symptoms.

If you can’t exercise indoors or in a more humid climate, warm up as much as possible before exercise, Dr Haghi said.

You can also try to build up your cardiovascular fitness so you can breathe through your nose instead of your mouth.

There’s limited evidence that EIB can be helped if you eat less sodium, or up your intake of fish oil or vitamin C, but she added, “these are small studies, and certainly not conclusive”.

In terms of pharmaceuticals, a short acting beta agonist can be used to relax the bands of smooth muscle that encircle your airways. You may know a beta agonist by its brand name, Ventolin.

It will usually do the trick for people who don’t have asthma, Professor Berend said.

“The vast majority get good relief from taking the Ventolin, but you have to take it before the exercise.”

You can become used to the drug’s effects, though, so it should only be used sparingly: three or four times a week is fine.

For those with asthma, even though almost all will have some degree of EIB, they may not feel it if their asthma is well controlled, Professor Berend said.

“So if it happens in asthmatics, it’s usually a sign that their asthma’s not well controlled and needs additional treatment.”

In my case, I bought a puffer and I have a couple of puffs about 15 minutes before sport or exercise. On a long run, I take it with me, and try to breathe through my nose.

I’ve started swimming more too. Even though I still end up breathing hard, the air I inhale is warmer and more humid, thanks to the pool water.

And my lungs and airways are definitely feeling better for it.

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CPR

Men’s shed get funding for first aid and flooring

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Local Mullumbimby and Bangalow Men’s Sheds were happy to hear that they had received grant funding towards flooring and mental health training yesterday.

Mullumbimby has received $1,900 in grant funding to go towards improving shed safety for floor pavers, and Bangalow Men’s Shed has received $1,200 in grant funding to go towards a Mental Health First Aid training course.

‘I congratulate both Mullumbimby and Bangalow Men’s Sheds on their successful applications,’ said local Labor member for Richmond Justine Elliot.

‘Men’s Sheds play a vital role in supporting and enhancing the wellbeing of local men and the First Aid training and floor paving will further assist the health and safety of the Shed members.

‘The local district Men’s Sheds provide a positive space for local men to interact in a safe and inclusive environment. Importantly, Men’s Sheds also provide community support and are proven to reduce social isolation, enhance self-esteem and increase access to specific information about health.’

The National Shed Development Programme allows Men’s Sheds and organisations supporting a Men’s Shed within their community, to apply for funds to better respond to local needs.

The aim of the Programme through the provision of direct financial assistance is to:

·        Support health improvements through a focus on the social determinants of health through national activities in relation to key population groups such as men

·        Assist to address the health and wellbeing of the Shed members

·        Deliver activities and programmes

·        Improve facilities and the sustainability of Men’s Sheds across Australia

Details can be found at https://mensshed.org/

We love the Mens Shed Idea. Hopefully we get to train some of their groups at Canberra First Aid. Book a first aid course with us today. www.canberrafirstaid.com

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Kit

Shark attack victim receives ‘perfect’ first aid response

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The first doctor to assess shark attack victim Justine Barwick after she was pulled out of the water at Cid Harbour in the Whitsundays has praised the “first-class” first aid applied by her husband and friends, which he says may have saved her life.

It comes as a 12-year old girl has become the second shark victim in less than 24 hours after being bitten on the leg in the same area on Thursday afternoon.

Key points:

  • Shark attack victim identified as 46-year-old Tasmanian tourist Justine Barwick
  • Her condition is listed as critical
  • The pilot who flew her to hospital has detailed the “fortuitous” circumstances of her rescue

Dr John Hadok — an emergency doctor at the Mackay Base Hospital — was on a nearby boat when the 46-year-old tourist was bitten on the upper right leg about 5:00pm on Wednesday.

He was alerted by people from another boat who had heard her screams, and travelled from boat to boat looking for help.

 

“I guess it was one of those situations where everything came together, the poor woman had been helped back onto her boat by her husband and her friends, who applied absolutely perfect first aid,” he said.

“I was a little worried I was going to find severe bleeding still going, but they had been able to stop the bleeding.

“Justine was very, very ill.”

Dr Hadok said her injuries were life-threatening, and she was in an extreme state of hypervolemic shock by the time he arrived — a result of losing more than one fifth of your body’s blood supply.

“I was just over-awed with the courage of her husband. He was clearly devastated but was still able to take instructions and offer help,” he said.

“They must have been terrified because she was so clearly very badly injured.”

 

The Mackay doctor also used to be a crew member of the RACQ CQ Rescue Helicopter as one of their retrieval doctors, and was able to discuss the best method to have her winched over radio.

“I made a bed out of boat cushions and we arranged it in such a way so that her legs were higher than her head because her blood pressure was unrecordable, she had no palpable pulse and I didn’t want her to be sitting up,” he said.

“In that sort of situation you really need advanced resuscitation equipment to improve it.”

But he said the first aid, where packing and compression bandages were applied to her thigh, had been able to stop the bleeding.

“I didn’t examine the wound, but from what I could estimate it occupied most of the back of her thigh … a massive wound.”

Dr Hadok described his role in the rescue as “pretty minor” and said he comforted Ms Barwick during the rescue.

“She was she was very frightened. She wasn’t out of control, she was very brave,” he said.

“She was asking me very rational questions and telling me about the awful pain that she was in. But she was quite sleepy because of the severe blood loss.

“Hopefully Justine will do very well, but she unfortunately has sustained a terrible injury and that will be the longest haul for her.”

‘There was blood everywhere’: witness

Rescuers and nearby holidaymakers who witnessed the woman’s ordeal say she is lucky to be alive.

Mark Yates was holidaying on his boat off Cid Harbour and said he was nearby when it happened.

“I just saw this yacht anchor about 60 metres off my boat, there appeared to be six people on board and they all seemed to be laughing and all that,” he said.

“Twenty minutes later there was this screaming and I thought ‘geez, they seem to be having fun’, and then the screaming kept continuing and I got up to have a look and I saw them dragging the poor woman out of the water.

“There was blood everywhere.”

Ms Barwick’s employer, Family Based Care Tasmania, said she was an avid snorkeler who made an annual trip to the Whitsundays.

“Justine is a fighter — a fit resilient woman who is an outstanding leader in the aged and disability care sectors. These intrinsic attributes will serve her well in her recovery,” the company said in a statement.

Mr Yates said the rescue operation took about an hour and a half.

“Two fellows dragged her straight up over the transom off the back of the boat and they must have laid her down in the cockpit so I couldn’t see anything happening at all.

“There was just frantic people moving around

“It would have been a risky operation.”

Mr Yates said boaties he had spoken to since the attack told him the area is known for sharks.

“This morning a fellow on a boat next door to me he came over and he told me he caught two tiger sharks in the last week and one of them bit his dinghy,” he said.

While he had previously gone swimming in Cid Harbour, Mr Yates said he won’t be again.

“I’m not game now. Beautiful as it is and the water’s nice but I’m just content to cool down in the breeze I think,” Mr Yates said.

Helicopter pilot recalls delicate rescue

 

The helicopter pilot who flew Ms Barwick to hospital described the “fortuitous” circumstances that may have saved her life.

Ms Barwick — who works for Family Based Care in north-west Burnie in northern Tasmania — was pulled out of the water and onto a nearby yacht, which happened to have a doctor on board.

She was then placed inside a dinghy and winched up to a helicopter.

RACQ CQ Rescue pilot Kevin Berry said it was a difficult situation.

 

“[It was] very fortuitous that time, people and resources where there when we needed them,” he said.

“The rescue itself was tricky due to the tall mast on the hire yacht and that large number of boats in the area.

“So to hover over the boat to rescue directly from the boat would have blown the boat around.

“The simplest operation was what we did, putting her into the rubber duckie off the back of the boat and winching them from there.

“It took about 45 minutes.”

Mr Berry said another miraculous occurrence was the fact the rescue helicopter was low on fuel and had to divert to Proserpine.

“The fact the chopper did not have enough fuel to fly direct to Mackay ended up being a lucky break for the shark attack victim,” Mr Berry said.

 

“We were 10 minutes short of fuel to come back to Mackay [so] we went to Proserpine to refuel.

“[It] would have been ideal to go to Hamilton Island but they did not have any fuel at the time.

“Blood was delivered to the team at the same time we landed.

“It gave the paramedic time to work on the casualty a little bit more stabilise her, as fluids were needed straight away.

“So it was maybe fortuitous landing at Proserpine, it got the fluids to her quicker than having to come back to Mackay.

“It all came together really quick.”

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Aed

Venomous two-headed snake found in backyard

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A SUPER rare, two-headed snake was found in a suburban backyard and apparently both heads can harm you.

A RARE two-headed snake has been discovered in the flowerbed of a backyard.

The rare find has been identified as a copperhead snake. In a Facebook post, herpetologist John D Kleopfer noted “Wild bicephalic snakes are exceptionally rare”.

A woman named Stephanie posted an initial photo of the reptile on Virginia Wildlife Management and Control’s Facebook page asking: “What are the odds to find a two headed snake???”

According to USA Today, the snake was found in Stephanie’s neighbour’s garden. From there, the snake was able to be evaluated by experts.

Apparently one of the heads has a dominate oesophagus and the other has a more developed throat. Picture: Virginia Wildlife Management and ControlSource:Facebook

Mr Kleopfer explained that due to “too many challenges living day to day with two heads”, two headed snakes don’t live too long.

Explaining in a Facebook Post, Mr Kleopfer said the left head had the “dominate oesophagus and the right head has the more developed throat for eating”.

Copperheads grow about 18-36 inches long, while this bicephalic snake is only young and about 6 inches, Mr Kleopfer told USA Today.

Mr Kleopfer also said the snake isn’t a danger to anyone; vipers tend to attack insects and Copperheads aren’t known for being aggressive.

According Mr Kleopfer, the snake will possibly be donated to a zoological facility, “with a little luck and care”, he said.

National Geographic explained snakes like this one are not unlike Siamese twins.

“The point at which the embryo stops separating varies. Just as Siamese twins can be joined at the head, breast, or hip, so too can snakes be joined at varying places on their bodies.”

One person asked on the Virginia Wildlife Management and Control Facebook post, “which head makes the attack?” to which the control company replied: “Both”.

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Shark lair has been found in the Pacific Ocean

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A MYSTERIOUS great white shark lair has been discovered in what experts once thought was a “blank, barren” stretch of the Pacific Ocean.

The surprising discovery shocked scientists, who had no idea the area was home to sharks — and assumed the region couldn’t support their diets.

Each year, California’s great white shark community makes a mysterious pilgrimage to an area dubbed the “white shark cafe”.

Hundreds of the deadly sea creatures swim for months to spend their winter and spring in a far-flung area of the Pacific Ocean.

The area, which lies between Mexico’s Baja California and Hawaii, has proved a major mystery for scientists.

But now researchers have tracked the sharks, and visited the “middle-of-nowhere spot”, as first reported in the San Francisco Chronicle.

What particularly confused scientists was why sharks were swimming such huge distances.

It seemed especially odd, because it was assumed that the region was “lacking the kind of prey” that great whites prefer.

By a joint expedition by Stanford University and the Monterey Bay Aquarium found that the shark lair had plenty of grub to go around.

Researchers discovered a “vast community” of tiny light-sensitive creatures that prove very tempting for Pacific sharks.

According to experts, the area is teeming with squid and small fish that move around in a deepwater are of ocean known as “mid-water”.

This is the region just above the deepest areas of sea, where there is complete darkness.

Researchers now hope to investigate the area further.

“The story of the white shark tells you that this area is vitally important in ways we never knew about,” said Salvador Jorgensen, a research scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

“They are telling us this incredible story about the mid-water, and there is this whole secret life that we need to know about.”

He added: “What we’ve learned through the progression of our research is that this mid-water layer is extremely important for white sharks.”

The researchers are focusing on a large 160-mile-radius area that sits around 1200 nautical miles east of Hawaii.

Scientists only have a very limited understanding of the region, due to its remote location.

Interest around the area grew when, 14 years ago, scientist Barbara Block, of Standford’s Marine Station, attached acoustic pinger tags to white sharks.

Ms Block found that local sharks were feeding in the “Red Triangle”, an area near Monterey Bay, between August and December.

But each December, the acoustic tags would track a huge movement out to sea, leaving experts baffled.

It turned out the sharks were swimming out to a patch of open ocean twice the size of England — which Ms Block dubbed the “white shark cafe”.

To investigate the matter, Ms Block attached acoustic tags to 36 local sharks, as well as satellite monitoring tags with locator beacons that were designed to pop off and float to the surface.

Then, researchers organised a month-long expedition on the research vessel Falkor, in a bid to track down the tags.

Researchers managed to secure info from 10 of that 22 tags that floated to the surface in what Ms Block described as a “white shark treasure hunt”.

“We now have a gold mine of data. We have doubled the current 20-year data set on white shark diving behaviours and environmental preferences in just three weeks,” Ms Block said.

She added that it would “help us better understand the persistence of this unique environment and why it attracts such large predators”.

It turned out that sharks were making unusually deep 3000-foot-deep dives, using warm currents to follow prey deep underwater.

Scientists believe, but can’t say for sure, that the sharks are snacking on small fish and squid.

The experts say that sharks of different genders were also behaving differently.

Male sharks would dive up and down through water in a V-shape, up to 140 times a day.

Females, meanwhile, would dive deep during the day, and shallow at light – creating further confusion for scientists.

“It’s the largest migration of animals on Earth — a vertical migration that’s timed with the light cycle,” Mr Jorgensen said.

“During the day they go just below where there is light and at night they come up nearer the surface to warmer, more productive waters under the cover of darkness.”

This story originally appeared in The Sun and has been republished here with permission.

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Burn

Alien of the deep startles NZ beachgoers

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Taken from News.com.au 19th September 2018.

IT was an unusual colour. It was an eerie quivering mass.

Adam Dickinson told his children to steer clear of the massive blob they stumbled across while visiting a New Zealand beach earlier this week. But the family soon surrounded the creature, which appeared to be moving.

It was unlike anything Dickinson had ever seen before.

“My initial thought was don’t let my kids touch it as they went running up to have a look,” Dickinson, who lives in Stanmore Bay, recalled to Fox News.

The large creature washed up on Pakiri Beach, roughly 90km north of Auckland.

Dickinson’s children compared the pink creature to a “volcano.”

“It was pretty incredible and really hard to describe,” Dickinson told Yahoo7. “It almost looked like a load of muscles contracting.”

It was clear the creature, which Dickinson later discovered was a lion’s mane jellyfish — the largest species of jellyfish in the world — wasn’t dead.

“It’s alive,” Dickinson’s son confirmed.

The family stared at the jellyfish, and sure enough, it continued to move.

“It was pretty amazing to see. Also, the other jellyfish we found on the beach, we turned them upside down to see if it would look similar to this one and none of them did,” Dickinson told the news station. “This one was definitely different. We have never seen anything like it. It was pretty cool.”

A lion’s mane jellyfish, also known as the “giant jellyfish,” can grow as large as a blue whale. Its tentacles can reach 190 feet long (57 metres) and it can have a bell diameter of up to 7 feet (1.8 metres), according to Oceana, an international conservation organisation.

The majority of lion’s mane jellyfish live in the Arctic and Pacific Ocean, where waters tend to be cooler.

“Its ‘mane’ of long, hairlike tentacles hanging from the underside of its bell-shaped body is the inspiration behind the lion mane’s common name,” Oceana explains in a blog post. “The mouth is situated on the belly’s underside, surrounded by tentacles that are divided into eight clusters of up to 150 tentacles each.”

This type of jellyfish typically feeds on plankton, small fish and other tiny organisms. The lion’s mane jellyfish packs a powerful sting, typically using its toxic tentacles to paralyse its prey.

Book a first aid course today to learn how to treat jelly fish stings.

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Father calls for safety rethink following long wait for daughter’s first-aid

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By Jesse Thompson

Updated 

A father who spent more than half an hour waiting for first aid for his convulsing, injured daughter is calling for a rethink of safety at remote sporting matches.

Chris McSherry attended his daughter’s under 16s grand final football match in Yirrkala at the weekend — one of many sporting leagues that bring competition and colour to remote communities around the Northern Territory.

But the match was briefly halted in the third quarter when a player unexpectedly kicked the ball in the direction of Mr McSherry’s daughter, Lea.

“My daughter sort of half-braced herself and she copped the ball fair in the back of the head,” Mr McSherry told ABC Radio Darwin.

“She stood for a few seconds and fell to the ground and started convulsing.

“There was no ambulance, there was no first-aid, there was no-one at hand.

“I was very lucky that there happened to be a nurse at the field watching that day who was able to help me comfort my daughter until the ambulances arrived.”

Mr McSherry initially suspected his daughter sustained a neck injury, and said he began to fear the worst.

She was carried off the field so the game could continue, but Mr McSherry said given the injury was unknown, he believed Lea shouldn’t have been moved without proper medical expertise.

 

He estimated he waited another 30 minutes before an ambulance was able to arrive at the remote Indigenous community, which is about a 15-minute drive from the nearest hospital in the coastal mining town of Nhulunbuy.

“That would have to be the most difficult part of the whole experience, is feeling absolutely helpless,” he said.

“She was uncontrollably twitching and things like that. She couldn’t open her eyes. She couldn’t speak.”

Mr McSherry said he was grateful for the work of paramedics and Careflight, who transported his daughter to Nhulunbuy and flew her to Darwin, where she made a recovery.

But he called for a rethink of safety procedures on the field.

“My aim for the whole thing is to not point fingers, but to hopefully change whatever procedures [we] went through so that something like what happened to me and my wife won’t happen again,” he said.

Player welfare ‘provided by the club’

AFLNT’s Remote Projects Manager Cassidy Fitzclarence said he was sympathetic to Mr McSherry, but cautioned remote areas had to make strategic decisions about the limited resources at their disposal.

“It’s a horrible thing for anybody to go through — especially a parent — but there’s only so many resources [local health services have] got available,” he said.

“It is quite a hard thing to expect that to be available at one single sporting event, especially when you’ve got a lot of different sports going on over one weekend, where there’s only one ambulance vehicle in an area like Gove.”

Mr Fitzclarence said risk mitigation strategies would be reviewed following the event, but was unable to say with certainty whether clubs had their own sports medics.

“The rules and regulations for the NTFL in Darwin is that the player welfare is actually provided by the club,” he said.

“I’m certainly saying that absolutely that’s got to be looked at, but that’s where clubs come in and their sports medics are there.

“Certainly with things like ambulances, no matter where the incident takes place, it’s still a phone call to the ambulance and they have to come to the ground.”

St John Ambulance operations manager Craig Garraway said current staffing arrangements met the needs of the community and medical assistance could have been provided if they had been asked for it.

“Obviously if they had requested paramedics, it would’ve impacted on our ability to resource the town, but we would’ve had, probably, enough people there to do it,” he said.

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Drastic method to get Australian strawberries back on shelves

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STRICT new export rules have been introduced as Australia’s national needle contamination scare leaves strawberry growers in crisis and police baffled.

All six states are investigating reports of tampering that has seen needles or pins discovered in strawberries, as well as reports today extending to apples and bananas.

Police fear a spate of copycat attacks has seen the crisis extend beyond the original single grower in Queensland more than a week ago.

Exporters have now been told they must prove their fruit has been cleared through a metal detector or x-ray machine before the federal Department of Agriculture will issue a permit.

But many fear the damage to the reputation of Australian-grown strawberries has been done.

Queensland Strawberry Industry Officer Jennifer Rowlings said some trade partners in Russia and the UK have already blocked Australian imports.

New Zealand announced this week it would pull Aussie-grown berries from its supermarket shelves.

Police are investigating an incident where a needle was found in an apple in Sydney’s northwest and another in a banana in Bankstown yesterday.

Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty of New South Wales Police said there were also reports today a needle had been found in fruit by a child at a school in the northern part of the state.

“IT’S AN ACT OF TREACHERY”

Superintendent Doherty said police were still unclear whether cases were a result of copycat behaviour, with no confirmed motivation or reasoning.

He said they were treating all cases as genuine and stressed food contamination was a serious offence with 10 years jail time.

“The consequences are dire,” Superintendent Doherty said. “It’s an act of treachery on the community of NSW and across the nation.”

There have been more than 20 incidents across NSW, between Tweed Heads and Albury, plus the further cases in the isolated fruits.

Superintendent Doherty said they had no confirmed suspects or demands but police were receiving information from the community via Crime Stoppers.

“It’s not funny — we’re at a point where kids are nearly going to bite into a strawberry,” he said.

“It’s fortuitous we haven’t had anyone receive significant injuries. It’s creating hysteria and a perilous adventure just to go feed your family at the supermarket.”

Cases of self-contamination would also be treated as food contamination, which was “a serious offence” and could carry 10 year

METAL DETECTORS INSTALLED

A metal detector has been installed at a fruit wholesaler in Western Australia after strawberries contaminated with needles were reported four times over the past two days.

On Tuesday, police said they had received reports of needles being discovered in strawberries in the Perth suburbs of Kelmscott, Spearwood and Bull Creek.

Queensland industry development officer Jennifer Rowling said the sabotage has attracted global media attention and countries are now blocking imports of Aussie fruit.

“This issue has attracted attention as far away as Russia and the UK, and as a result a number of our trade partners have either already blocked Australian strawberry imports or are talking about doing so,” she said.

Earlier today, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced a $1 million fund to help farmers struggling with the strawberry needle crisis.

Ms Palaszczuk said the money would be used to promote the state’s strawberries, to investigate how to improve traceability and integrity in the supply chain, and to support growers for the remainder of this season.

“This past week, Queensland has been the victim of an ugly, calculated and despicable crime,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“The sabotage of our strawberry industry is not just an attack on hardworking growers and workers, but it reaches into almost every home and school lunch box.”

There are approximately 150 strawberry growers in Queensland, with most production around Dayboro, Beerwah, Wamuran, Elimbah, Caboolture, Stanthorpe and Bundaberg.

The value of Queensland strawberries for 2017—18 was forecast to be $160 million. Growers produce around 15,000 tonnes of fruit per season, or up to 60 million punnets of strawberries.

“Strawberry farmers say their banks have already been on the phone to them,” Ms Palaszczuk said. “I urge those banks to act responsibly and with compassion.”

Ms Palaszczuk reminded Queenslanders to cut up any strawberries before consumption.

“This funding boost for growers follows my government’s approval of a $100,000 reward from the Queensland Police Service for information leading to an arrest.

“I call on anyone with information on the culprits to come forward — think what damage could have been done if a toddler had been handed a piece of contaminated fruit.”

Yesterday, it was revealed the contamination scare has now spread the length of the country, with authorities in Western Australia confirming the state’s first case.

A member of the public went to York Police Station, west of Perth, to report the discovery on Monday afternoon.

The strawberries in question were “produced and packaged in Western Australia”, the spokesman said, although the brand has not yet been released.

Growers are working hard to get the fruit back on supermarket shelves, with some suppliers taking the drastic measure of installing metal detectors on their conveyor belts.

In WA, a supplier that puts around one-third of the state’s strawberries onto the shelves of Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and IGA has forked out tens of thousands of dollars on a metal detector.

Canning Vale market agent Allstates Farms paid $30,000 for the device which local farmers hope will help the crippled industry.

“Strawberries are scanned and it will stop if there is any metal present,” quality control manager Manjeet Singh told PerthNow .

“It means people can buy these strawberries with confidence.

“All existing stock and new stock coming in will all be going through the scanner, punnet by punnet, tray by tray, then each tray will be sealed with a security sticker.”

The strawberry industry has been in chaos since the first discovery of a needle in a punnet of strawberries bought in Burpengary in Queensland more than a week ago.

In that case, a man who bit into a strawberry with a needle inside it and ended up in hospital.

Since then, needles or pins have been reported in strawberries in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT.

Affected brands include Berry Obsession, Berry Licious, Love Berry, Donnybrook Berries, Delightful Strawberries and Oasis.

A nationwide manhunt is under way for the culprit or culprits responsible for the numerous cases of deliberate contamination.

Consumers are urged to cut up any strawberries before eating them.

—with Frank Chung and AAP

This is a horrible situation for the country and there are some severe choking hazards that could occur. Please learn how to treat choking by booking in to  a first aid course in Canberra. www.canberrafirstaid.com

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