REBOA, ECMO, Thoracotomy? Where should we be focussing our attention in the world of Pre-hospital care?

We were lucky enough to be invited to the London Trauma Conference on the Prehospital Day supported by the Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation. The day focussed on the areas we can make a real impact to the outcomes of our pre-hospital critical care patients. We grabbed a few minutes time of the following speakers to hear their thoughts;

Introosseous Access; Jerry Nolan

Pre-hospital Blood products; Jostein Hagemo

Communication under pressure; Dr Stephen Hearn

Pre-hospital Critical Care - what should the near future look like? Dr Stephen Rashford

Have a listen and as always we’d love to hear any thoughts or comments you have on the website and via twitter, and take a look at the references below to draw your own conclusions. We'll be back in the new year with monthly episodes of Papers of the Month and Roadside to Resus; have a great Christmas and New Year and we'll speak to you soon!

Enjoy!

Simon, Rob & James

Well the year has flown by and it's already time for December's Papers of the Month Podcast!

Head injuries are a huge work load for those of us involved in Emergency Care. Identifying those at risk of deterioration from a traumatic brain injury is a priority, as early intervention and prognostication can make a huge difference to patient outcomes. CT scanning is relatively easy to access and with it investigation creep has lowered our threshold of investigation and use of radiology resources; first up we have a look at a paper that looks at the potential benefits from employing a number of different guidelines in identifying the patients with traumatic brain injury, whilst comparing the risk of over investigation.

Next up we have a look at the commonly made diagnosis of urinary tract infection in the older population and a review paper that will help you make the right diagnosis when it's present and not over diagnose when not.

Finally we have a think about the potential benefit of a fluid bolus during induction of anaesthesia for our patients undergoing RSI; can a 500 mL fluid bolus prevent cardiovascular collapse? And we also hear the authors insights on the great RCT.

Make sure to get in touch with any comments on any of the reviews, and importantly make sure you check out the papers and draw your own conclusions.

Enjoy!

Simon & Rob