Philosophy of Emergency Medicine

Simon Carley revisits February 2019 on the St Emlyn’s podcast. The accompanying reading includes research on ventilation during intubation, pulmonary embolism in patients with syncope and trauma deaths, alongside reflections on workplace relationships and life after PTSD therapy.

How does sleep relate to learning? This discussion of Matthew Walker’s book, Why We Sleep, considers revision, shift work, teaching schedules and conference travel, asking how educational habits might better protect opportunities to rest.

Advocacy and bedside care came together on the final morning of SMACC 2019. This report explores violence prevention, climate change and emergency care in Malawi, alongside debates about resuscitation, intubation and the balance between ultrasound technology and clinicians’ skills.

What makes overseas healthcare volunteering responsible and useful? Drawing on an EUSEM panel, Stevan Bruijns examines preparation, ethical limits, local partnerships and sustainability. The discussion challenges good intentions alone and considers how clinicians can contribute to global emergency care from home as well as abroad.

Simon Carley brings together ten trauma papers and resources for the 2019 TraumaUK conference. The selection spans prehospital plasma, airway management, resuscitation, head injury, emergency laparotomy and paediatric splenic injury, ending with the Zero Point Survey and preparation before resuscitation begins.

Good workplace relationships need deliberate attention. Stevan Bruijns reflects on how gratitude, generous interpretations of colleagues’ actions, celebrating successes and shared experiences can support emergency care teams, while recognising that no single team can meet every professional and personal need.