The Doctor's Bag app

The Doctor’s Bag is a free app designed to support Australian health professionals during emergencies. The app has two modules:

The Doctor’s Bag module provides recommended doses for drugs in the PBS Prescriber Bag, including adrenaline doses for anaphylaxis and calculators for weight-based dosing in children. It acts as an emergency backup, providing reassurance that the correct dose has been given. It can also be used as an educational tool in non-emergency settings. The information is kept up to date as the contents of the PBS Prescriber Bag change.

The Anaphylaxis Management module is based on the popular Anaphylaxis: emergency management for health professionals wallchart published by Australian Prescriber in 2011, and updated in 2018.
(Please note that the “Call 000” function in Step 3 of this module will not work on tablet devices, including iPad.)

From humble beginnings

Australian Prescriber has a proud history of creating and providing resources for health professionals.

In 1996 Australian Prescriber first provided its readers with a small card detailing recommended doses for drugs on the PBS Emergency Drug Supplies (then known as the Doctor’s Bag). It was designed to be kept with their bag as a quick reference to use in emergencies.

The anaphylaxis wallchart was first published as 'Medical management of severe anaphylactoid and anaphylactic reactions' in 1994. It has since been revised and reproduced five times. The latest wallchart, 'Anaphylaxis: emergency management for health professionals', was published in 2018 after consultation with the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine, the Australasian Society of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacologists and Toxicologists, the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA), the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, the Australian Dental Association, the Internal Medicine Society of Australia and New Zealand, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists. It has also been officially recognised as an Accepted Clinical Resource by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.

The wallchart is available online, or in hard copy from the NPS MedicineWise ordering portal.

Developing The Doctor’s Bag

When Australian Prescriber updated the emergency drug doses list in February 2012, a number of readers asked for something to replace the older dose card format. In an age where smartphones and mobile devices are ubiquitous, it made sense to explore a mobile solution. After many phases of research and testing, the idea for The Doctor’s Bag app – an app that combined emergency drug doses and the anaphylaxis wall chart – was formed.

The app was designed and developed by Australian Prescriber and NPS MedicineWise.

Have any questions or comments?

Send questions and feedback about the app by filling in the online form.