Effective trauma team leaders don’t just manage tasks, they manage time. This tip explains how to give the team clear, realistic milestones and shared priorities without creating pressure to rush or take shortcuts.
TTL Tips 13: Set your team specific time goals Read More
Situational awareness is a core trauma team leadership skill. Learn how high-performing TTLs use perception, comprehension, and projection to stay proactive in trauma resuscitation.
TTL tips 12: Thinking ahead Read More
Does early hypothermia improve outcomes after traumatic brain injury? This review of the 2018 POLAR trial examines its patient selection, cooling strategy and six-month neurological outcomes. It discusses the absence of demonstrated benefit in this population and why the findings cannot answer every question about rescue cooling.
JC: Hypothermia in brain injury: The POLAR trial. St Emlyn’s. Read More
When does presumed alcohol intoxication conceal something more serious? Natalie May reviews two observational studies of altered consciousness, including patients without detectable alcohol and those with coexisting critical illness. The discussion explores diagnostic bias, the limits of alcohol testing and the importance of looking beyond the initial label.
When a senior emergency physician becomes a patient in his own department, familiarity and deference can complicate care. Andy Volans shares his experience and reflects on careful history-taking, consistent assessment and the risks of giving colleagues a different kind of treatment.
How to manage your boss (the expert patient in the ED). St.Emlyn’s Read More
Could platelet transfusion worsen outcomes after spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage in patients taking antiplatelet drugs? This 2016 appraisal examines the PATCH trial’s unexpected findings, functional outcomes and limitations, asking why a biologically plausible treatment might fail to help the patients it was intended to benefit.
JC: Platelets for Intracranial Haemorrhage. St.Emlyn’s Read More
Does hypertonic saline offer better outcomes than mannitol after traumatic brain injury? This 2016 appraisal explores the limited comparative evidence, distinguishes changes in intracranial pressure from outcomes that matter to patients and considers the uncertainty surrounding temporary treatment before definitive care.
JC: Salt or Sugar? Hypertonic saline for head injury at St.Emlyn’s. Read More
A fictional Robocop trauma case provides the framework for this tour of NICE’s 2016 major-trauma guidance. The post follows care from scene to hospital, discusses areas of controversy and highlights unanswered research questions, with links to the full guidance and an accompanying infographic.
Robocop gets the NICE 2016 major trauma treatment. St.Emlyn’s Read More
