Could the NHS cope with a major conflict? In Part 2 of our St Emlyn’s briefing, we explore how military casualties, reduced hospital capacity, infrastructure disruption and workforce pressures could affect everyday emergency care — and why we need to start preparing now.
Are we ready for war? Part 2: Preparing our emergency departments and hospitals Read More
Routine sodium bicarbonate has largely disappeared from modern ALS algorithms, but it continues to be used in many cardiac arrests. We review the BIHCA trial and discuss what it means for emergency physicians and prehospital clinicians.
Does Sodium bicarbonate improve outcomes for in-hospital cardiac arrest? Read More
Does intravenous magnesium improve outcomes for patients with acute non-traumatic headache in the emergency department? This review of a randomised trial examines the size of the analgesic benefit, adverse effects and whether a statistically positive result is enough to change practice.
JC: Magnesium for Acute Headache: Maybe, but perhaps not for all.. Read More
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.
Corridor care and boarding harm: how much evidence is enough? Read More
What does medical boarding cost patients and the wider emergency care system? Stevan Bruijns reviews regional data linking boarding with mortality, longer stays and ambulance delays, then explores the limitations of the evidence and the argument for action within acute trusts.
JC: Boarding, the crowding tax and a fixable problem Read More
What does excellence in everyday emergency care look like? Drawing on his DFTB26 keynote in Glasgow, Simon Carley explores reliable practice, awareness of our own limitations and teams whose different strengths help them get the fundamentals right.
DFTB26: Doing the Fundamentals Extraordinarily Well Read More
When something goes wrong in healthcare, another training module is often the default response. Jesse Spurr examines the costs of that reflex and offers six steps for deciding when training is useful and when the system needs to change.
A personal reflection of one Clinical Director of an Emergency Department, discussing the lure of leadership and some of its potential perils
Look at what they make you give Read More
