Critical Care

The first of two podcasts discussing resuscitation papers from the St Emlyn's research roundup. This post introduces the opening selection and links to the accompanying Big Sick Conference article for the papers and appraisals.

Selected learning from the English-language track of the 11th emergency medicine congress in Graz in 2024. This report covers cardiac arrest, trauma, sepsis and ultrasound, alongside reflections on research, teaching and learning from mistakes.

Does using a bougie improve first-pass success during tracheal intubation? This appraisal examines a systematic review and meta-analysis, considering the quality and variety of the included studies and how equipment, technique and clinical setting affect the interpretation.

A review of an observational study comparing mechanical and manual CPR during in-hospital cardiac arrest. The appraisal examines survival outcomes and why patient selection, confounding and the timing of mechanical CPR make the results difficult to interpret.

An updated overview of decompensated liver disease in the emergency department, covering assessment, investigation and the search for a precipitating cause. It discusses infection, bleeding, kidney injury, encephalopathy and escalation of care, with the WAVES mnemonic to organise the approach.