#FOAMed

If there is one skill that we must all continue to grow and develop it is our communication skills. Communication drives the way we interact with the world and the way the world interacts and perceives us.

I’d like you to imagine something with me. It’s 08:00 on a Thursday morning and you've just arrived in the Emergency Department.

Critical Appraisal of the medical literature is a key part of the armamentarium of a good Emergency Physician, not just to pass tricky exams, but also to stay up to date with new evidence. We are very lucky to have some very experienced researchers on our team at St.Emlyn's, including not one, but two Chairs of Emergency Medicine (commonly called a "Sofa").

Education - pay it forward - you might get it back in heaps later.

These devices use infrared light to detect vein position under the skin, then project an image of this in real time onto the patient's body. They are designed to make it easier for healthcare professionals to perform cannulation or venepuncture in patients who are usually difficult, and the manufacturers detail that relevant veins even 10mm under the surface of the skin can be detected.

We've been interested in Ketofol for many years in Virchester. We were early adopters as the pathopharmacological argument makes sense for patients requiring sedation for short painful procedures in the ED.