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.
On a FAST track to nowhere at St.Emlyn’s Read More
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.
JC: Should we use Heimlich Valves for ambulatory pneumothorax management? St. Emlyn’s Read More
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.
JC: Time is brain…., calling #FOAMagitators. St.Emlyn’s Read More
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.
Children are just little adults. SMACC2013. St.Emlyn’s Read More
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.
Review: The Essence of Emergency Medicine Read More
How much confidence should we place in age-based estimates of a child’s weight? This 2013 report compares APLS formulae with measured weights in a local study, explores variation hidden by average accuracy and argues for measuring weight whenever circumstances allow.
APLS weight estimation – don’t do it (well almost never). St.Emlyn’s Read More
A 2013 journal club explores an Australian observational study of childhood CT exposure and subsequent cancer diagnoses. It puts relative risk headlines into perspective and considers how clinicians balance the immediate benefits of diagnosis against possible harms that may emerge much later.
JC: Do paediatric CT scans cause cancer? St.Emlyn’s Read More
Could unconscious preferences influence how we assess and treat patients? This reflection explores rapid judgements, evidence of unequal pain treatment and the idea of implicit association, inviting emergency clinicians to examine assumptions that may differ from their conscious commitment to fair care.
