So this time we're going to be looking at the HUGE topic of acute coronary syndrome (ACS)! ACS ranges from patients who appear well at the time of their presentation, to those that have arrhythmias, haemodynamic instability, to those that are in cardiac arrest!

There are around three quarters of a million ED chest pain attendances per year for acute chest pain and it accounts for around 25% of ED medical admissions!!

Some of the treatments we'll discuss for patients with ACS can have a huge affect on morbidity and mortality and we can make a real difference to our patients. The ESC guidelines are a fantastic resource to take a look at and we've listen the papers that form the evidence we cover in the podcast.

We worry about missing ACS and conversely, with so many 'suspected ACS patients', we also worry about overly suspecting it and the subsequent burden of admissions and investigations that it may mean. We're going to cover the approach to ACS in this episode in our standard format, all the way from definition, patho-physiology, assessment, investigations and management and cover aspects that are both new information and a sound revision of the topic.

Once again we'd love to hear any thoughts or feedback either on the website or via twitter @TheResusRoom.

Enjoy!

Simon, Rob & James

Welcome back after our summer hiatus to September's Papers Podcast!

Firstly we take a look at two different strategies for managing agitation in the Emergency Department, to achieve rapid control. Is haloperidol and midazolam, or ketamine alone, a better strategy?

Then we take a look at the results from RECOVERY-RS. We covered the design of the trial at it's conception last year and this trial essentially looks to answer whether a strategy of high flow nasal oxygenation, CPAP or conventional oxygenation is best for our patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 when they present with hypoxia.

Lastly we turn to Rob and take a look at his recent publication on the use of cervical collars when dealing with a patient able to self extricate from a motor vehicle collision; how will the application of a collar or commands help with excessive movement?

Once again we'd love to hear any thoughts or feedback either on the website or via twitter @TheResusRoom.

Enjoy!

Simon & Rob

Welcome to August 2021's papers podcast!

Three more great papers for you this month which have challenged and informed our practice.

First up we look Impact of ambulance deceleration with patients lying flat vs 30 degrees head up on intracranial pressure in patients with a head injury.

Next, is a patient with a refractory VF arrest more likely to have a positive finding on coronary angiography than one with non-refractory VF?

And finally, in patients with blunt chest wall injury, does the presence of a flail chest indicate a worse morbidity and mortality compared to rib fractures alone? And what do the findings mean for our clinical examination focus?

Once again we'd love to hear any thoughts or feedback either on the website or via twitter @TheResusRoom.

We're giving you all a summer break from us and we'll be back again with our Papers of the Month and Roadside to Resus episodes in September.

Enjoy!

Simon and Rob

So welcome back to another Roadside to Resus episode!

Pre alerts are a key part of the interface between pre hospital and in hospital care of the critically unwell patient, when made and received in an effective manner they can really benefit the patient and the system. But too often we hear of friction associated with pre alerts and recent discussions on social media has really highlighted this.

In this episode we explore the pre alert, the guidance that exists already on the topic, the challenges of both making and receiving those pre alerts and our four major questions; why we pre alert, what we should pre alert, how to pre alert and when to pre alert.

Once again we'd love to hear any thoughts or feedback either on the website or via twitter @TheResusRoom.

Enjoy!

Simon, Rob & James

Another month and 3 more papers!

First up we have a look at a paper that has grabbed a lot of recent headlines in the form of TTM2. So we now seem to have the answer to whether comatose patients following out of hospital cardiac arrest benefit from therapeutic hypothermia over maintenance of normothermia.

Next up we take a look at a paper which adds some real value to our assessments of maxillofacial injuries and can help inform our assessment of the likelihood of fracture and need for imaging.

Lastly we take a look at the whether iv vs io access in cardiac arrest might make a difference to outcomes when it comes to the use of adrenaline.

Once again we'd love to hear any thoughts or feedback either on the website or via twitter @TheResusRoom.

Enjoy!

Simon and Rob

So this time we're going to be talking about subarachnoid haemorrhage. So this is going to be a short and punchy look at a really important and interesting topic in subarachnoid haemorrhage.

We run through the approach to headache and then focus on the specific features and findings that we should be looking for with regards subarachnoid haemorrhage. We then consider who we should be investigating further, what value a CT head brings and the sticky subject of who should be going on to have a lumbar puncture.

Finally we consider the the management once the diagnosis of SAH is reached and how we can ensure the best outcomes for our patients.

At the time of recording NICE has published its draft version of Subarachnoid Haemorrhage Caused by a Ruptured Aneurysm; diagnosis and management, which will be a great resource once finalised.

Once again we'd love to hear any thoughts or feedback either on the website or via twitter @TheResusRoom.

Enjoy!

Simon, Rob & James

This month we've got three papers that have challenged our practice both from an in-hospital and pre-hospital perspective.

Firstly we consider a paper that looks at admission saturations for patients with exacerbations of COPD and compare this to the BTS guidance on oxygen therapy, regarding altering oxygen saturations for those proven not to be hypercapnoeic. Should we be aiming for 88-92% or 94-98%?

Next we look at a paper from the team at KSS looking at dispatch to older trauma victims and consider whether current triggers for HEMS dispatch are set at the appropriate level to catch those in this cohort that may benefit from critical care interventions.

Lastly we look at a paper evaluating the QRS width in PEA cardiac arrests and consider firstly whether a broad QRS complex is predictive of hyperkalaemia and secondly whether we would treat patients based off this finding?

Once again we'd love to hear any thoughts or feedback either on the website or via twitter @TheResusRoom.

Enjoy!

Simon and Rob

So the Resuscitation Council UK have today published new guidelines on resuscitation based on the European Resuscitation Council 2021 Guidelines and recommendations from the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation.

We were lucky enough to catch up with two key members of both ERC and RCUK, Gavin Perkins and Jasmeet Soar, gaining their valuable insights into the new guidelines.

As well as this Simon, Rob and James pick out some other key points from the guidelines and discuss how these may translate into systems and practice.

Once again we'd love to hear any thoughts or feedback either on the website or via twitter @TheResusRoom.

Enjoy!

Simon, Rob & James

Welcome back to May's Papers of the Month Podcast!

Three more papers for you on three varied topics. We start off with the use of end tidal carbon dioxide in the content of prehospital head injuries.Taking a look at a paper delving a bit deeper into the utility of end tidal CO2 when compared with arterial CO2 measurements on arrival in ED, in patients having received a prehospital anaesthetic; how accurate is end tidal and what level should we be aiming for?

Next we consider the importance of frailty in the outcomes of our older trauma patients and the ability of three different screening tools in identification of this cohort of high risk patients presenting to our hospitals.

Finally we take a look at a treatment which some prehospital services have already employed and others are considering; the use of CPAP for patients presenting with acute respiratory distress. Does the evidence support its use?

Once again we'd love to hear any thoughts or feedback either on the website or via twitter @TheResusRoom.

Simon & Rob

So last month we considered Maternal Emergencies and the approach and interventions we can make in order to minimise complications during pregnancy and during childbirth. As promised this month we're looking at the next step along the process and focussing on Newborn Life Support.

Dealing with newborns has the potential to be really stressful but hopefully by concentrating on the fundamentals and guidelines we'll all be able to approach the situation with greater confidence.

Let us know any thought and comments you have on the podcast.

Enjoy!

Simon, Rob & James