Objective: To assess the practicality of using personal digital assistants (PDAs) for the collection of logbook data, procedural performance data and critical incident reports in anaesthetic trainees. Design: Pilot study. Setting: Two tertiary referral centres (in Victoria and New Zealand) and a large district hospital in Queensland. Participants: Six accredited Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) registrars and their ANZCA training supervisors. Interventions: Registrars and supervisors underwent initial training for one hour, and supervisors were provided with ongoing support. Main outcome measures: Reliable use of the program, average time for data entry and number of procedures logged. Results: ANZCA trainees reliably enter data into PDAs. The data can be transferred to a central database, where they can be remotely analysed before results are fed back to trainees. Conclusions: This technology can be used to monitor professional performance in ANZCA trainees.

ANZCA trainees in routine anaesthetic practice can reliably use mobile computing technology to report critical incidents and 'near miss' incident data.

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In order to remotely control the drilling process it is necessary to measure several drilling fluid parameters automatically. This will increase objectivity of the measurements as well as make it possible to immediately react to changes. The current paper describes in detail the design for an integrated tool combination and the results of a full size yard test of such a combined set of tools for measuring drilling fluid parameters and formation properties automatically. Some of the automated tools have been tested on rig site operations. Results from these individual tests are also presented.The automatic drilling fluid analysis includes viscosity, fluid loss, electric stability measurements and chemical properties like pH. Full viscosity curves for the drilling fluid are measured using configurations and shear rates similar to those suggested by API procedures. Since gel formation curves and fluid loss properties require some sort of controlled static periods, these measurements are made semi-continuous. However, they are automatic and are measured as frequently as possible.An automatic system is included to measure the particle size distribution, concentration and morphology. Knowledge of these parameters is necessary, especially when drilling in depleted reservoirs where particles are added for increasing the wellbore strength.The produced cuttings volume is measured. An automatic system is adapted that determines, with accuracy comparable to that of visual analysis, whether the particles separated at the shaker screens are drill cuttings or cavings produced by an unstable formation. The mineralogy of the cuttings is analysed automatically using Raman spectroscopy, making it possible to evaluate continuously the different formations being drilled.

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