critical care

Happy hypoxia in COVID-19: pathophysiology and pulse oximetry accuracy

Dyspnoea is characterised by the sensation of uncomfortable or difficult breathing, breathlessness or experiencing air hunger (American Thoracic Society, 1999)..

Targeted temperature management: beneficial or not?

TTM is not a novel phenomenon, with concepts of hypothermia as a therapeutic measure having been applied historically (Marion et al, 1996). In ancient Greece, the physician Hippocrates favoured...

Paramedics and pneumonia associated with COVID-19

The lungs have multiple protective mechanisms to prevent lower respiratory tract infections such as pneumonia. The curved, undulating nature of the upper airways creates a great deal of turbulence in...

Prehospital emergency anaesthesia: time taken to care for and respond to a critically injured patient

One of the first questions raised when researching PHEA is: what is it best referred to as? The SOP produced by Pinnell and Pountney (2015), followed by the ambulance trust, is so titled, but refers...

The hanging/hanged patient and relevance to pre-hospital care

Hanging can be categorised as judicial or non-judicial, with the former being a legal capital punishment, which usually follows a set procedure in order to cause death. Currently, it is argued that...

Critical care paramedics: who's doing what?

‘It is refreshing to see a more balanced, less adversarial and critical appraisal of some of the issues in pre-hospital trauma care’ .

Transporting the paediatric intensive care patient: an insight into CATS

St John Ambulance (SJA) is the sole provider of ambulance services to the paediatric retrieval team at CATS and the crews providing the service are based on site at the Great Ormond Street Hospital....

Infections of the heart and how they relate to the ambulance service

Pericarditis is the inflammation of the pericardium around the heart. Pericarditis can be broken down into two major groups that cause this disease: infectious (accounting for two thirds of the...

The evolving role of the Emergency Medical Retrieval Service critical care practitioner

EMRS has two teams available 24 hours a day. Each team comprises of two, the first person being a consultant with a specialty in emergency medicine, anaesthetics or intensive care, and the second...

To alert, or not to alert? That is the question

Spotlight on Research is edited by Julia Williams, principal lecturer, paramedic science, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Hertfordshire UK. To find out how you can contribute to future issues,...