Highlights and a podcast from day two of the London Trauma Conference 2014, spanning trauma in older people, children and pregnant patients. The team also reflects on performance culture, learning from deaths, the future of ATLS and debates about ultrasound, vascular access and social media.
St Emlyn’s at the London Trauma Conference – Day 2 Read More
St Emlyn’s reports from the opening day of the London Trauma Conference 2014, with an accompanying podcast summary. Topics include traumatic arterial dissection, impact brain apnoea, the development of major trauma centres, research involving children and older people, and trauma care in motorsport.
St Emlyn’s at the London Trauma Conference – Day 1 Read More
A 2014 journal club examines reports of eye injuries after the Boston Marathon bombing and the West, Texas explosion. It considers what these cases reveal about recognising ocular trauma, arranging specialist assessment and including ophthalmology capacity in major incident planning, while acknowledging the limitations of case-series evidence.
JC: Ocular trauma in blast injuries. St.Emlyn’s Read More
Does improving an acid–base measurement demonstrate that a resuscitation fluid is better for patients? This 2014 journal club examines a small trial comparing Plasma-Lyte with saline in major trauma, exploring surrogate outcomes, fluid volumes and why the findings could not establish a benefit in patient-centred outcomes.
JC: Plasma-lyte or Saline in Trauma? St. Emlyn’s Read More
How well do prehospital triage tools identify major trauma in children? This 2014 journal club examines a PERUKI study, exploring over-triage, the uncertainty created by very few seriously injured patients, and the problem of testing ambulance tools in children who arrived without an ambulance.
JC: Paediatric Major Trauma Triage Read More
How do experienced trauma team leaders know whether they are performing well? This reflection makes the case for peer observation and feedback, describes a practical process using a TEAM assessment sheet, and explores how colleagues can help each other develop beyond formal training.
Are you a good Trauma Team Leader? St.Emlyn’s Read More
Does prehospital fluid resuscitation improve survival after trauma? This 2013 journal club challenges the interpretation of an observational study, examining the difference between its headline, unadjusted mortality figures and adjusted analysis, alongside selection bias and uncertainty from a small sample.
JC: PROMMT Pre-hospital fluids for trauma – do they improve survival? Read More
Could cryoprecipitate and tranexamic acid work together to improve trauma outcomes? This 2013 journal club examines observational data from Camp Bastion, highlighting baseline differences, statistical adjustment and the difficulty of transferring findings from a military setting to civilian practice.
JC Cryo + TXA for trauma apparently it also MATTERS. St.Emlyn’s Read More
