How well do prehospital triage tools identify major trauma in children? This 2014 journal club examines a PERUKI study, exploring over-triage, the uncertainty created by very few seriously injured patients, and the problem of testing ambulance tools in children who arrived without an ambulance.
JC: Paediatric Major Trauma Triage Read More
Pain relief alone may not address what brings distress to patients in the emergency department. This 2014 research discussion explores suffering beyond pain and introduces EPICC: attending to emotional distress, physical symptoms, information, basic care and closure, informed by patients’ accounts of what they needed.
When pain relief is not enough in the Emergency Department. St.Emlyn’s Read More
An illustrative chest-pain case challenges readers to interpret two ECGs alongside an early troponin result. This 2014 teaching post explores subtle high lateral STEMI, reciprocal changes and the risk of letting an initially unremarkable blood test distract from concerning ECG findings.
Cardiology Case 03: Are you missing the STEMI? St. Emlyn’s Read More
Does giving prasugrel before angiography help patients with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes? This 2014 appraisal of ACCOAST examines the balance between ischaemic outcomes and major bleeding, alongside patient selection, the composite endpoint and the limits of applying the findings more widely.
JC. ACS: Antiplatelets ACCOAST-ed? Read More
The second instalment of this ethics series revisits a fictional rescue dilemma through the trolley problem and the four pillars of medical ethics. It explores intentions, consequences, action and omission, and asks why apparently similar choices can provoke very different moral judgements.
Ethical dilemmas in Emergency Medicine Part 2 Read More
The opening instalment of an emergency medicine ethics series presents a deliberately extreme, fictional rescue dilemma. It asks readers to weigh saving several lives against actively causing one death, using the thought experiment to begin a wider discussion about the ethics behind clinical decisions.
Ethical Dilemmas in Emergency Medicine Part 1 Read More
Should conference delegates share everything they hear on Twitter? This 2013 discussion weighs the educational reach of live tweeting against concerns about unpublished research, publication rules and embargoes, asking how conferences can support open learning while respecting speakers’ concerns.
No Tweeting, Please. Healthcare Conference in Progress Read More
Distraction during a child’s procedure starts well before the procedure itself. Rick Body explores the child’s and parents’ perspectives, clinicians’ emotions, first impressions and preparation, showing how rapport and a personalised distraction plan fit into care in the paediatric emergency department.
Driving children to distraction: Techniques for the PED Read More
