Emergency Medicine

The Virchester ‘ED Spa’ offers staff a non-clinical space to pause, recover and connect. This account explains how the room developed and how the five ways to wellbeing shaped its activities, from a gratitude tree and shared library to supporting colleagues through difficult shifts.

How does repeated excess paracetamol taken for pain differ from other overdose presentations? This 2017 discussion explores therapeutic excess, risk assessment and the consequences for admission. It repeatedly stresses checking current TOXBASE or local toxicology guidance, rather than relying on the historical thresholds described in the post.

A report from the first two days of the Intensive Care Society’s 2017 State of the Art meeting in Liverpool. Topics include trauma, early mobilisation, transfusion, pulmonary embolism and tracheostomy care, alongside debates about service standards, robotics and translating evidence into everyday critical care.

When emergency-department pressures affect morale, how can colleagues make the working day more supportive? Janos Baombe shares experience-based ideas about gratitude, helping others, explaining plans and choosing words carefully. He also reflects on emotional responses to difficult cases and the value of acknowledging them within the team.

Can the Ottawa subarachnoid haemorrhage rule reduce unnecessary investigation without missing serious disease? This 2017 appraisal examines its prospective validation, patient selection and the tradeoff between sensitivity and specificity. Natalie May considers testing burden, clinician interpretation and why careful documentation of headache onset matters.

Could routine HIV testing make emergency care a stronger public-health opportunity? This 2017 discussion examines the rationale behind NICE’s 2016 guidance, including local prevalence, consent and follow-up. It considers how ED screening might reach people who do not attend sexual-health services and reduce barriers to diagnosis.