Should major trauma imaging start with whole-body CT or a selective approach? This 2016 review of REACT-2 examines mortality, imaging speed and radiation exposure, while questioning exclusions, overlapping imaging between groups and whether a trial finding no difference establishes equivalence.
JC: Do we always need a whole body CT in trauma? St.Emlyn’s Read More
What happens when clinicians cannot access the research they need? This 2016 discussion uses Sci-Hub to examine paywalls, open access and disruption in medical publishing, weighing ethical tensions, legal concerns and sustainability without offering a simple endorsement of the service.
Sci-Hub. The pirate future of medical publishing? St.Emlyn’s. Read More
Could a helmet interface reduce intubation compared with a face mask for non-invasive ventilation? This 2016 appraisal examines striking results from a small, early-stopped ARDS trial, alongside baseline differences, potential bias and the difficulty of applying ICU findings to emergency department patients.
JC: Helmets or masks for NIV. St.Emlyn’s Read More
Could erythropoietin protect the brain after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest? This 2016 appraisal examines a French randomised trial that found no neurological or survival advantage and more adverse events, including thromboembolism, highlighting the gap between biological promise and demonstrated patient benefit.
JC: Does EPO improve OOHCA outcomes? St.Emlyn’s Read More
What would a realistic wellbeing plan look like alongside a demanding critical care job? Liz Crowe’s companion to the wellbeing podcast explores sleep, food, movement, quiet time and relationships, using her own routine to illustrate an approach tailored to the individual.
Be well and be a better critical care clinician. St.Emlyn’s Read More
Who shapes the work of an emergency physician beyond the resuscitation room? In the third part of this 2016 series, Simon Carley explores funding, targets, specialist services and workforce pressures, asking how political and organisational choices might change the scope of emergency medicine.
The BIG questions in EM. Part 3 – Politics. St.Emlyn’s Read More
How might technology change what counts as an emergency? This 2016 essay explores wearable monitoring, diagnostic decision support and the shift towards predicting disease, while questioning overdiagnosis, unequal access and the opportunity costs of investing in new clinical technologies.
The BIG questions in EM. Part 2 – Technology. St.Emlyn’s Read More
An ageing population changes more than the number of patients arriving in the emergency department. This opening essay in the 2016 ‘Big Questions’ series examines complex illness, social care needs and an ageing workforce, arguing for training and service planning that look beyond immediate pressures.
The BIG questions in EM. Part 1 – Demographics. St.Emlyn’s Read More
