Search St Emlyn’s

A March 2020 account of preparing an emergency department for COVID-19. The Virchester team discusses leadership, PPE and simulation training, staffing, difficult conversations and service capacity, showing how local plans developed while the likely scale and course of the outbreak remained uncertain.

The March 2020 announcement postponing the St Emlyn's LIVE conference because of COVID-19. The team explains the decision, the refund arrangements announced at the time and its early plans to keep medical education going through online alternatives.

ChatGPT can now pass many medical examinations with scores that exceed those of average candidates. Does that mean traditional assessments are no longer fit for purpose? We review the evidence and explore what AI means for emergency medicine education, MRCEM examinations and patient safety.

Evidence from academic studies, professional bodies, coroners, NHS trusts and patient-safety investigators increasingly links corridor care and prolonged emergency department boarding with avoidable harm. Stevan Bruijns asks whether the evidence now warrants a formal public inquiry.

NHS England’s Model Emergency Department guidance asks trusts to include demand and capacity modelling in implementation plans. But that is harder than it sounds. Much of future emergency care demand comes from residual factors such as technology, supply-induced demand and access barriers, which traditional modelling often misses.

Does raising blood pressure improve neurological recovery after acute spinal cord injury? We examine a randomised trial comparing augmented and conventional targets, with particular attention to loss to follow-up, limited statistical power and relevance to emergency and prehospital care.

Greg Yates reviews the evidence behind familiar cough remedies, from codeine and dextromethorphan to herbal preparations and honey. The article considers symptom relief, side effects and the limits of the research, with an emphasis on taking patients’ discomfort seriously.

A retrospective review of 600 patients treated for suspected sepsis in US emergency departments raises questions about antibiotic overtreatment. We examine the study’s use of hindsight, possible treatment-related harms and how its findings translate to UK practice.

Could stellate ganglion block have a role during refractory cardiac arrest? This appraisal examines a scoping review of 32 reported cases, the rationale for the technique and why publication bias and other treatments make the apparent benefits difficult to interpret.

How do emergency responders experience moral injury? A small UK mixed-methods study explores loss of trust in others, oneself and authority. This journal club considers those different perspectives and what they might mean for organisational support beyond individual resilience.