Background Unless emergency departments have adequate capacity to meet demand, they will fail to meet clinical and performance standards and will be operating in the ‘coping zone’. This carries risks ...

Background Establishing intravenous access is often vital in an acute hospital setting but can be difficult. Ultrasound-guided cannulation increases success rates in prospective studies. However, ...

Prolongation of the QT interval is a serious electrocardiogram finding because of its association with torsades de pointes and sudden cardiac death.1 Both congenital and acquired factors can lead to ...

Reducing time delays and enhancing reperfusion eligibility related to stroke suspicion by the Emergency Medical Dispatch Centre: a registry-based observational study ...

Background The number of ambulance service-employed paramedic practitioners moving to work in primary care is increasing. Several Health Education England-supported pilot rotational programmes are ...

Early assessment and management of poisoning constitutes a core emergency medicine competency. Medical and psychiatric emergencies coexist; the acute poisoning is a dynamic medical illness that ...

Background ABG samples are often obtained in trauma patients to assess shock severity. Venous blood gas (VBG) sampling, which is less invasive, has been widely used to assess other forms of shock. The ...

Data on cost-effectiveness and outcomes are required before physician extenders can become an integral part of the ED team in the UK health service Smith and Tevis have provided a helpful comparative ...

Objectives: Activated charcoal is now the mainstay of non-specific treatment for self poisoning in accident and emergency (A&E) departments and should be administered within one hour of ingestion of ...

Background Evidence regarding high-dose inhaled corticosteroids (HDICS) in asthma exacerbations in adults is insufficient. This study compares the treatment outcomes of HDICS as add-on therapy to the ...

Overdoses of tricyclic antidepressants are among the commonest causes of drug poisoning seen in accident and emergency departments. This review discusses the pharmacokinetics, clinical presentation ...

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a leading cause of death in pregnancy and postpartum. Clinicians face a difficult choice when deciding whether to use diagnostic imaging to investigate for suspected PE in ...