Journal Club

Explore the papers and resources Simon Carley selected for SASEM 2019 in Jeddah. This conference reading list brings together prehospital resuscitation, airway management, oxygen therapy, chest and head injury, cardiac arrest prognostication and the Zero Point Survey, with links to earlier critical appraisals.

Can helicopter emergency medical services improve survival after traumatic cardiac arrest? This 2019 appraisal examines a retrospective UK cohort, distinguishing procedures and return of circulation from survival to hospital discharge, and questioning what a small, uncontrolled dataset can tell us about benefit.

Revisit a year of critical appraisal with the St Emlyn’s 2018 collection. This post introduces an ebook bringing together journal club discussions of prehospital, emergency and critical care research, with links to the book in several formats and to other St Emlyn’s publications.

Could serum neurofilament light chain help predict neurological outcomes after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest? Dan Horner’s 2019 appraisal examines an analysis of TTM trial samples, considering promising test performance alongside validation gaps, false predictions and the risks of relying on a biomarker in isolation.

Should adults receive midazolam or haloperidol before ketamine sedation in the ED? This 2019 trial appraisal weighs reduced agitation against longer recovery, examines the study’s size and outcome measures, and asks whether observed behaviour captures what matters to patients.

How should we interpret survival improvements after changes to UK trauma services? This appraisal examines TARN data from 2008–2017, considering regional trauma networks alongside changing patient populations, case identification and missing data. It also highlights the challenge of recognising serious injury in older people.