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Early warning system for emerging and illicit drugs could save lives

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An ambulance parked outside Royal Perth Hospital emergency department.
By order of the health minister, Perth tertiary hospitals must take over patients within 30 minutes of an ambulance arriving.(720 ABC Perth: Paul Entwistle)

At emergency departments around Australia, doctors are often detecting new illicit drugs and trying to work out how to reduce the harm they cause.

But they don't currently have an easy way of 'comparing notes' with what other hospitals are seeing come through their doors, which makes it tricky to spot trends and address them quickly.

The Emerging Drugs Network of Australia aims to solve that problem by building an 'early warning system' which enables sharing of information between EDs.

The plan has just been awarded $3.7 million in Federal funding over 5 years - a big win for one of its driving forces, Professor Daniel Fatovich from Royal Perth Hospital and the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research.

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Perth, Drug and Substance Abuse, Emergency Care, Medical Research
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