Objectives:To determine whether weather conditions affect emergency department (ED) attendance and admissions from the ED. Design and setting: A retrospective observational study in a large metropolitan ED. Main outcome measures: ED attendance (total and via ambulance) and admissions to hospital from ED, as a function of weather variables. Results: On warm, dry, sunny and good weather days there were significantly more ED attendances in total than there were on cool, rainy, dull and bad weather days, respectively (P р 0.001). There were significant correlations between ED attendance and temperature (r = 0.36, P < 0.001), rainfall (r = −0.20, P < 0.001) and hours of sunshine (r = 0.17, P = 0.001). Attendance via ambulance was not affected by weather variables. Admissions from the ED were positively correlated with temperature (r = 0.15, P < 0.01) and negatively correlated with rainfall (r = −0.12, P = 0.02). Conclusions:As there is a clear relationship between weather conditions and ED attendance, incorporating meteorological forecasting into emergency medicine training may improve ED scheduling. To improve the morale of ED staff coping with an onslaught of patients on good weather days, the ED environment should simulate sunny weather, MJA 2005; 183: 675-677 with swimming pools, sun lamps, palm trees and Beach Boys music.

Although contrast media are commonly used in hospital practice, there is limited attention to their use by pharmacists. Contrast media have the potential to cause a range of adverse reactions, including contrast-induced nephropathy. Some reactions are unpredictable and cannot be prevented; however, other reactions may be abated with careful consideration of the patient's clinical status and risk factors, as well as various prophylactic measures. An understanding of contrast media properties can help pharmacists to enhance drug safety when reviewing or dispensing drug orders or counselling patients around the time of contrast-enhanced diagnostic procedures. J Pharm Pract Res 2005; 35: 33-6.