A 3 year old child is brought into the emergency department having ingested “at least 20” of her mother’s iron tablets.
Question
a. Describe your assessment of this patient. (50%) b. Describe your management of this patient. (50%)
Answer
FACEM VAQ Exam 2004.2 – Question 6
- The overall pass rate for this question was 56 / 64 (87.5%).
- Examiners noted that this was an uncommon problem but nevertheless is a “classic” that candidates should have expected and have been prepared for.
- They expected that assessment would include a risk assessment based on estimated ingested dose as well, expected toxicity based on levels and some sort of awareness of the stages of iron toxicity (the timing of the ingestion was not stated in the question).
- Management needed to be both the specifics of iron poising as well as the more general issues.
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