RTA or not, which acronym?

Re: RTA or not, which acronym?

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 14:16:22 GMT

Frankly, my dear.................

Re: RTA or not, which acronym?

Glen McIntosh — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 06:19:29 GMT

I use rta or hbc depending on my mood. Don't think I will us rtc.

Australians also don't seem to understand the acronym pts. And the word rota means nothing to them, they call it a roster.

In my experience, South Africans use the word "habitus" a lot. Must be something they teach at OP. Or is it a word that other nationalities use in their clinical notes?

Re: RTA or not, which acronym?

Mark Frost — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 01:57:19 GMT

Currently in Australia and was initially confused by MVA / MVC (motor vehicle accident/collision) ... don't think it matters at all what you call it as long as the person you are talking too / is reading your notes, knows what it means...

Re: RTA or not, which acronym?

Utlendigur — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 23:09:42 GMT

I remember being confused by a colleague telling me my afternoon appointment was a dog with "heft" - thinking it sounded like some strange northern disease. I quickly found out it actually stood for "Has Every F*cking Thing". (Pretty sure the dog in question was a westie)

Re: RTA or not, which acronym?

Rob Loxley — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 23:02:18 GMT

[quote user="Clive Ansell"]Has anyone else come across this, and does it really matter? [/quote]

We are not the police, nobody will be quoting what we say to avoid any liability in court (and if they do, how can we actually know it is/isn't an accident unless we were there??). There are really better things to worry about IMHO.

[quote user="Clive Ansell"]I will continue using RTA, most colleagues will know what is meant by it. [/quote]

Likewise.

Re: RTA or not, which acronym?

Wren — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 22:37:44 GMT

[quote user="Alan Tevendale"] Got a HBT a good number of times although often a tractor I've had a couple of trains.

[/quote]

My favourite HBT was a decrepit nearly-blind 12yr old working collie bitch belonging to a farmer with a tractor with no brakes. He used to stop the tractor by dropping the box on the back to the ground - until the day that his collie's leg was under it. I amputated the old girl's back leg and when I saw her on the consult list 18mths later assumed that she'd come for her final vist. Not so! The next door neighbour's collie dog had been visiting and my farmer wanted a shot of Alizin for the bitch. I had to laugh at the taste of the dog who decided that he fancied a 3-legged blind geriatric bitch!

Re: RTA or not, which acronym?

Alan Tevendale — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 21:09:56 GMT

We've a vet who graduated in Oz. She also uses HBC. Everyone else in the practice uses RTA and certainly no plans on changing no matter what the police say now. Got a HBT a good number of times although often a tractor I've had a couple of trains.

Re: RTA or not, which acronym?

Rachael Winder — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 20:26:39 GMT

Thank you Mark, you have succeeded in making me smile after "one of those days"... my IPC/HIDBNRN/YARTML came in the form of a bitch which had been whelping ( or not, rather discharging green/black gunk) for 3days before it turned up!

Re: RTA or not, which acronym?

Michael Woodhouse — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 19:00:46 GMT

[quote user="Hannah Wynne Richards"]

I would prefer RTC because RTA suggests the ocurrence is blameless-and far too many drivers are irresponsible

Wynne

[/quote]

If an owner turns an animal out of the house to roam free then it's fate is in the lap of the gods. I have run a cat over (killed instantly). It is more dangerous to react animals on the road than hit them in most cases. The highway code supports that. I have seen 2 accidents where people were avoiding pheasants.

It's more irresponsible to react violently to a small cat and injure a person.

Re: RTA or not, which acronym?

bob lehner — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 18:35:36 GMT

I have always had a soft spot for TF BUNDY for moribund cases.

Re: RTA or not, which acronym?

Wren — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 18:12:31 GMT

We'd need to use HBT (Hit By Tractor) more often. Had two yesterday! Unfortunately the HBCH (Hit By Combine Harvester) cases don't usually make it as far as the surgery .

Re: RTA or not, which acronym?

Rob Reid — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 17:31:29 GMT

I thought the Police used Road Traffic Incident (RTI) now? HBC is a good compromise I think.

Re: RTA or not, which acronym?

Wren — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 17:07:19 GMT

When I was in NZ we used GTH instead of PTS - Going/Gone To Heaven. A wee bit flowery for me and quite surprising given the general attitude to companion animals at the time. They also used HBC - Hit By Car

Re: RTA or not, which acronym?

Camilla Edwards — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 17:04:49 GMT

I worked with an american nurse who called them HBCs (hit by car)

Re: RTA or not, which acronym?

Judith Joyce — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 16:56:42 GMT

We still have RTAs - I guess that means we are out of date.

OBE = V + D (open both ends!)

Re: RTA or not, which acronym?

Mark Holmes — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 16:30:12 GMT

To be honest the last thing I worry about when presented by a cat (or dog given I have had 2 this afternoon) is what combination of three letters is appropriate and whether is accurately apportions blame between the various parties.

We could equally call it an IPC (Inconveniently presenting case), a HIDBNRN (headache I don't bleeding need right now) or YARTML (yet another reason to miss lunch).

Re: RTA or not, which acronym?

Hannah Wynne Richards — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 16:09:20 GMT

I would prefer RTC because RTA suggests the ocurrence is blameless-and far too many drivers are irresponsible

Wynne

Re: RTA or not, which acronym?

Bob Russell — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 15:59:41 GMT

Agree with NCPO or worse. Watching too much TV. The Police avoid the term accident because it has suggests no-fault. They use RTC in preference. I use RTA but perhaps it should be RTI (road traffic interaction!) this is because I cannot see how when a 4Kg body collides with a 11/2 tonne lump of metal travelling at any speed the 4Kg body can still live!

I suspect most cats that survive this sort of interaction are injured by the turbulence under the vehicle and not by colliding with the car itself. They may get bumped against the underside of the car but a collision would surely result in a journey across rainbow bridge!!

Just me being a bit picky!

Re: RTA or not, which acronym?

Edward Jones — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 15:54:55 GMT

'RTA' is no longer used by the Police - they contend that there is no such thing as a road 'accident' and that someone's negligence is always to blame.

However, a dog or cat running in front of a vehicle generally is a genuine accident.

Re: RTA or not, which acronym?

Catherine Williams — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 15:46:17 GMT

Has she been watching Hot Fuzz? I think that comment is entirely lifted from the script. Its not an RTA because you don't know that it was an accident!

Re: RTA or not, which acronym?

Mark Holmes — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 15:12:26 GMT

What about NCPO (Nurse can piss off)?