Traditionalists may prefer the Gladstone bag, whose style confers a sense of time-honoured assurance. Pragmatists may opt for a fishing tackle box: far from elegant, but the sight of those organised compartments emerging during a crisis can calm the nerves.
Many of these items will increasingly be replaceable by a portable computer connected to a virtual ‘paperless’ office.
Many details can be stored on a smartphone, including drug dosage apps, local maps and local emergency phone numbers.
A study of 512 Queensland GPs revealed the range of emergency equipment and essential drugs carried.4 The most common emergencies were acute asthma, psychiatric emergencies, seizures, hypoglycaemia, anaphylaxis, impaired consciousness, shock, poisoning and overdose. The drugs used most were adrenaline, benztropine, diazepam, glucagon, haloperidol, hydrocortisone, naloxone and salbutamol (inhaler).
The issue of what drugs to carry is always an interesting intellectual exercise. It could reduce to just a few items such as adrenaline, diazepam, naloxone and morphine.5 Doctors who are called to manage emergencies more frequently and in more remote locations generally prefer a broader range of drugs, which requires increased checking of stocks.