Author Archives: Cliff Reid

Scoop minimises cervical movement

A cadaveric study using a 3-dimensional electromagnetic tracking device to asses cervical motion compared the application of a scoop stretcher with two other manual transfer techniques, including log rolling onto an extrication (spine) board. The scoop method restricted cervical spine … Continue reading

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Pre-hospital cooling post arrest

An Australian randomised controlled trial assessed the effect of pre-hospital cooling (using 2 litres ice cold Hartmann’s) of post-cardiac arrest patients on functional status at hospital discharge. The intervention group were marginally cooler on arrival but did not have improved … Continue reading

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Give all sick patients oestrogen?

A thought provoking article in Critical Care Medicine outlines basic science, animal, and human studies that suggest oestrogen may have a protective effect in a wide range of critical illnesses from cardiac arrest to trauma to stroke. It urges clinical … Continue reading

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No benefit from pre-hospital trauma doctor in Holland

Being human, I suffer from confirmation bias: I’ve become aware that I’m always on the look out for studies that show benefit from physician-provided pre-hospital care and therefore it’s possible I miss the ones that show no benefit. Of course, … Continue reading

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EZ-IO outperformed B.I.G

A small randomised trial of adult emergency department patients showed faster insertion and higher success rates with the EZ-IO compared with the Bone Injection Gun (B.I.G). This is in keeping with my own experience and that of several services I … Continue reading

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Scene time not linked to outcome in large cohort

Okay – I admit to loving this paper, partly because it blows away the dogma of short scene times and ‘scoop & run’, and the oft-quoted but obnoxious assertion that the only pre-hospital fluid of benefit is gasoline. A massive … Continue reading

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Increased mortality with non-trauma centre care

A trauma database was analysed to see if patients who were transported from the field to a non-trauma centre (NTC) and subsequently sent on to a trauma centre (TC) for definitive care fared worse than similar patients who were transferred … Continue reading

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Peripheral vasoactive infusions

It is often recommended that vasoactive agents are infused via central lines because of the risk of infiltration and tissue injury. The Children’s Hospital Boston transport team describe transport of 73 infants and children who were treated during interhospital transport … Continue reading

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rFVIIa did not reduce trauma mortality

An industry sponsored placebo-controlled multicentre randomised controlled trial has shown no mortality reduction from recombinant activated Factor VII (rFVIIa) in patients with trauma. rFVIIa acts physiologically by enhancing clot formation in the presence of tissue factor expressed on injured or … Continue reading

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Paediatric Tube Cuff Pressures

A paediatric critical care transport service encountered elevated tracheal tube cuff pressures (>30 cmH20) in 41% of 60 consecutive care studied, and over 60 cmH20 in 30%. This measurement was taken on arrival at the bedside, not in flight. Cuffed … Continue reading

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