ABG interpretation & Introduction to NIV course (19th January)

19th of January 2025, 08:00 – 15:30 (Virtual)

At the end of the course, attendees will receive a Certificate of Participation, equivalent to 6 hours of CPD credit.

Watch the Video Preview of the course, where the Tutor discusses one of several blood gases in the context of a clinical scenario. 

This course is relevant to any doctor who wishes to brush up on their Arterial Blood Gas (ABG) interpretation skills and includes an introduction to the use of non-invasive ventilation (NIV) in the care of adult medical and surgical patients in the NHS.

The course aims to expose you to a wide range of ABGs in the context of the clinical scenarios you will encounter while working in NHS Acute Hospitals (Emergency Medicine/A&E, Acute and General Medicine, Surgical inpatients). Following current national guidelines, the tutors will introduce you to NIV, including how to initiate NIV safely and troubleshoot at 2 a.m. when on-call in the Hospital.

A week before the course, you will have access to the course workbook on this course page. This includes several ABGs similar to those you will often encounter in practice. We encourage you to attempt to interpret these independently, with no support. During the course, the tutors will support you in developing this and highlight key management aspects, recognise areas for improvement, and reinforce simple steps to employ when interpreting ABGs in a way that builds your confidence.

Who should attend?

• Foundation Doctors
• Resident Doctors
• Specialty Doctors
• Locally Employed Doctors and SAS doctors
• Experienced clinicians – as a refresher course

We will discuss the following clinical scenarios and the ABG abnormalities:

Pulmonary Embolism

Pneumonia

Cardiogenic Pulmonary Oedema

Asthma

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia

Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Salicylate poisoning

Sepsis

Bowel ischaemia

Renal Tubular Acidosis

Including how to initiate NIV safely based on current clinical guidelines.

Learning Outcomes:

• Interpret routine ABGs using a structured approach

• Interpret ABGs in high-frequency acute and emergency care patients in the context of clinical scenarios.

• Justify the management of patients with abnormal ABGs in the context of the clinical presentation.

• Justify the safe initiation of non-invasive ventilation (NIV) in an acute clinical presentation following British Thoracic Society guidelines.

• Organize and structure the conversation with a clinical colleague when referring a patient that requires NIV.

Programme

Tutors