On Algorithms... (warning this blog contains explicit language of an Anglo-Saxon origin)

Recently, during one of my frequent rocky patches, a very good friend whatsapp'ed to me an image of a greeting card. The image (below) struck a chord & had almost been, word for word, what I was thinking most of that day.

I shared it with J who also appreciated the underlying sentiment & message. Then because she is a genius (x-ref WWJD?) she suggested something very funny.

Recently I have been tasked by many Cambodians to create algorithms & job aids. The MoH has been updating CPGs (clinical practice guidelines - last written in 1999) but the hospital doctors want them simplified into Algorithms that can be made into a posters, which can in turn be stuck on the walls of clinical areas. Below is an example from an ER 'rescue room' I visited on my recent trip to China.

Now I don't object to Algorithms in principle, it just sometimes feels that I am only ever being asked to write them here because people are too lazy to read & try to understand the full protocol themselves or just to keep me away from the wards & anything remotely close to 'proper' capacity building.

I have started to visit for one week a month a small hospital on the Thai border, the director there asked me to do some training on Organophosphate poisoning, a common presentation here in Cambodia. One of the NGO staff I work closely with suggested that, as well as a training package, I should also develop a treatment algorithm, the CPG (written in french) is less than clear & straight forward. This, I thought, was actually a very good idea so below is my attempt of simplifying the national guidelines for the treatment of patients that take an overdose of insecticide. The text boxes, autoshapes & my mouse pad on my laptop, have been really testing my patience to the very limit.

I've become, it is fair to say, a little over burdened with text boxes & arrows in the last few weeks, so J's genius suggestion was for me to write an algorithm to simplify the inspirational whatsapp message from my good friend. In a free lunch hour I therefore gladly obliged.....

Tomorrow I'll start work on the algorithms & job aids for the paediatric CPGs......