Alan Grayson describes volunteering with Festival Medical Services at Glastonbury in 2013. His account explores the planning, multidisciplinary teamwork and varied presentations behind festival healthcare, from minor injuries to critical illness, and the challenges of delivering emergency care in a field hospital.
When rapid CT is available, what does FAST ultrasound add to trauma care? In this 2013 opinion piece, Simon Carley questions the place of FAST in basic ultrasound training, linking curriculum choices to patient benefit while acknowledging settings where CT is less accessible.
Could a small chest drain with a Heimlich valve allow selected patients with pneumothorax to receive outpatient care? This 2013 journal club examines a systematic review, weighing encouraging reports against variable study quality, limited randomised evidence and unanswered questions about patient selection.
Journal ClubEvidence-Based Medicine
A 2013 invitation to scrutinise proposals for faster access to stroke thrombolysis. The post links competing discussions about the evidence and asks how assumptions about benefit should inform investment in prehospital pathways and hospital processes.
Conference ReportsCritical Care
Simon Carley’s SMACC 2013 talk challenges the fear that can delay intervention when general emergency physicians treat critically ill children. The written introduction explains its provocative title, its focus on resuscitation skills and the fictional cases used to stimulate debate.
A personal review of the Essence of Emergency Medicine course in 2013, led by Cliff Reid and colleagues. The account focuses on human factors, learning openly from mistakes, taking responsibility and advocating for patients when systems make good care difficult.
Practical perspectives on trauma care and team leadership.
Explore the series →