Three must-know things about three important things.

Hallucinations
Hallucinations are senses and observations that seem real but are not.

  1. Hallucinations can involve sight & vision, hearing, smell, and taste. There is a gray area between memory (specially very emotional memories) and actual hallucination. Mostly though, it is fairly clear when a person senses things that are just not real.
  2. There are various causes for hallucination. Causes include drugs and alcohol, certain medication side effects,  dementia, epilepsy, fever (especially in children), and mental health conditions (e.g. schizophrenia).
  3. Any person who loses touch with reality should be seen by a doctor as soon as possible.

Heart attack first aid
A heart attack is a life-threatening medical emergency. Time is everything as regards improving the outcome.

  1. The most common signs of a heart attack are chest pain (central crushing), breathlessness, nausea, anxiety and or fear, and sweating. Often, some form of exertion or exercise may have triggered the attack.
  2. Only a fully equipped modern hospital can offer the proper care. Get the patient to hospital. Immediately. If you have a good ambulance service, use it. If not, drive or get a taxi. Stay calm but do not waste time.
  3. If the patient is not allergic to Aspirin, you can give one aspirin tablet (375mg) that the patient simply chews in the mouth. Do not give any other medications unless the patient has his or her own heart medication (ask them). CPR may be needed if the patient collapses but that we will not describe here, for brevity.

Just to repeat: your job here is to save a life by getting the patient to hospital. Calmly. But quickly.

Haemophilia
A genetic (inherited) condition characterised by missing blood-clotting factors, and excessive bleeding.

  1. There are two main types of haemophilia. Type A or factor 8 deficiency and Type B or factor 9 deficiency.
  2. The severity varies considerably, from minor and almost trivial, to severe and life-limiting as well as life-threatening.
  3. Treatment requires the replacement of the missing factors, via injections. This is usually an ongoing life-long need in severe cases. Milder cases need only a little care and the avoidance of injury-risks. Most people with haemophilia live fairly normal active lives.

Written by Dr Colin Burns