Emergency Medicine

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.

Does prehospital fluid resuscitation improve survival after trauma? This 2013 journal club challenges the interpretation of an observational study, examining the difference between its headline, unadjusted mortality figures and adjusted analysis, alongside selection bias and uncertainty from a small sample.

A 2013 introduction to adder bites for emergency clinicians in the UK, prompted by a snakebite scenario at SMACC. It reviews local and systemic envenomation, supportive care and antivenom, with treatment details explicitly based on poisons information available at the time.

What did the 2013 review of the Liverpool Care Pathway mean for emergency care? This reflection argues for individualised end-of-life care, conversations with patients and families, and honest discussion of uncertainty, rather than losing sight of comfort and dignity as the paperwork changes.

Simon Carley’s Anarchy in the UK presentation from SMACC 2013 traces St Emlyn’s development from early asynchronous learning to FOAM. The post brings together recordings and slides, with an invitation to debate social media’s role in medical education.