Acute rash, wheeze and low blood pressure after IV antibiotic - Hospital ward

CurtinYear 510 min + 2 min readingEmergency & acute careStandardPre-internship
  • A-E assessment
  • Dx
  • Initial Mx

Ready

2 min reading, 10 min station, warning at 2 min

Focus the timer and press Space to start or pause.

Station - Instructions for candidate

You are an intern on the acute medical ward. A patient you have been looking after since admission starts to show signs of deterioration shortly after the nursing staff commence the first dose of an IV antibiotic.

Kavya Menon is a 42-year-old female who was admitted to the ward this morning with suspected community-acquired pneumonia. The nursing staff have just started an intravenous antibiotic infusion. You are called urgently to the bedside as the patient has developed a rash and is having difficulty breathing. She appears unwell and you note she has become very pale.

Vital signs on arrival at bedsideHR 124 bpm regular, BP 74/44 mmHg, RR 28, SpO2 88% on room air, temperature 37.3 C

Your tasks are to:

  1. Perform an A-E assessment of this acutely unwell patient and treat as you go.
  2. State your most likely diagnosis to the examiner.
  3. Outline your immediate and early management plan including the key drug, dose and route.
  • You do NOT need to take a history or summarise your findings to the examiner; focus on assessment and treatment.
  • A registered nurse is present at the bedside to assist you.

This is a 10-minute station, with 2 minutes of reading time.

Ask the examiner

Solo practice: say out loud what you would ask for, then choose the category. Names appear only after you commit, and a result is revealed only when you ask for it.

Generated by AI for practice; check doses and pathways against eTG / AMH before relying on them.