Red flag modules

Published: 2016. Next review: 2025.

Use these modules to think about adverse events could have been avoided.

The modules are based on cases that have had a root cause analysis performed.

They include case descriptions with questions at key points to trigger critical thinking. Each module concludes with the lessons learned from the incident and an evidence-based discussion of the red flags.

The modules offer important lessons for clinicians, students and those managing clinical environments.

Modules

Blood from a stone

A 40-year-old female patient presents to a small rural ED complaining of a severe headache, neck pain and vomiting.

No stones unturned

A 70-year-old female is brought into a local district ED by ambulance complaining of right-sided flank pain radiating to her back.

Gut feeling

A 76-year-old male is brought into a local district hospital ED by ambulance at midnight with abdominal pain.

Off the track

A 42-year-old male presents to the ED with lower back pain following referral from an opioid treatment program clinic.

History repeating itself

A 44-year-old female presented to the ED with a three-day history of abdominal pain and vomiting.

The silent treatment

A 54-year-old male presented to an ED with a two-week history of dyspnoea and associated cough.

In the oven

A 31-year-old female presented to an ED with a one-hour history of abdominal pain. Pain described to be sudden- onset and located centrally.

All in your head

A 26-year-old female, final year medical student, presented to an ED with a six-week history of intermittent headaches.

Differential diagnosis dilemma

A 64-year-old, semi-retired male, presented to an ED with a four-day history of left upper quadrant pain.

Back to basics

A 58-year-old female presents to the ED with a one-week history of progressively worsening back pain, radiating down her left buttock and posterior thigh.

A missed opportunity

A 78-year-old male presented to the ED with a two-week history of constipation and chronic intractable pain.

Going down the tube

A bat-phone is called for a 24-year-old male with a gunshot wound to his head. The ambulance officer tells you he is Glasgow Coma Score 3/15 and has non reactive pupils.

Tied in a knot

A 78-year-old man, who had been visiting his wife in the hospital, has just received bad news from his wife’s treating doctor, he now has bilious vomiting.

Diagnoses

The information below reveals the diagnosis behind the red flag modules. It is for presenters to decide which modules best suits your teaching needs.

Show diagnoses

Diagnosis	Module
Subarachnoid haemorrhage	Blood from a stone
Ruptured aortic abdominal aneurysm	No stones unturned
Ruptured aortic abdominal aneurysm, geriatric abdominal pain	Gut feeling
Infective endocarditis	Off the track
Representation abdominal pain, bowel obstruction	History repeating itself
Left ventricular apical aneurysm, myocardial infarction, ischaemic heart disease	The silent treatment
Ectopic pregnancy	In the oven
Cranial space occupying lesion	All in your head
Pulmonary embolus	The differential diagnosis dilemma
Cauda equina	Back to basics
Suicide	A missed opportunity
Trauma and complications of endotracheal tube placement	Going down the tube
Small bowel obstruction and ischaemic bowel	Tied in a knot

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