guidelines

Challenges of prehospital silver trauma patients

Falls are the primary cause of trauma in older people, causing a multifactorial geriatric syndrome including major trauma despite low mechanism of injury (Saxton et al, 2019). Factors such as frailty,...

Needle decompression in tension pneumothorax: anterior or lateral approach?

This literature review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidance on identifying and including reviews of research and evaluation...

Integrating research and evidence-based guidance into prescribing practice

Both the College of Paramedics (CoP) (2018) and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) (2016) are clear that, as non-medical prescribers, advanced paramedics are required to review and critically...

Miscarriage, SUDI and neonatal death: paramedic experience and practice

The literature review was conducted using Google search and focused on paramedic practice and baby loss. The search included a focus on academic papers and books from across the social and medical...

Neurological examination 2

The articles in this series, which can be torn out for use in practice, are intended to support clinician development and to assist in the overall assessment of patient presentations. The information...

Challenges of SARS-CoV-2 and conflicting PPE guidelines

The early 21st century gave rise to two epidemics: between 2002–2003, a new deadly infectious disease known as SARS emerged, which was a global concern (da Costa et al, 2020). Ten years later in 2012,...

Paramedic use of PPE and testing during the COVID-19 pandemic

The fitting of PPE is pivotal to ensuring optimal protection and working conditions (Loibner et al, 2019..

The new coronavirus disease: what do we know so far?

As of 7 April 2020, there were more than 1 270 000 diagnosed cases of COVID-19 worldwide and over 68 000 confirmed fatalities (WHO, 2020b). At the same time, in the UK, there was a cumulative total of...

Cranial nerves: part 1

The articles in this series, which can be torn out for use in practice, are intended to support clinician development and to assist in the overall assessment of patient presentations. The information...

Clinical suspicion regarding needle decompression for patients with chest trauma

Needle decompression of the chest (also known as thoracocentesis or thoracentesis) is a manoeuvre to release abnormal air from the pleural space. Prehospital needle decompression is only indicated for...

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...

Fascia iliaca compartment block: a short how-to guide

FICB is a simple technique, and allows a high quality of analgesia to be given without the side effects of opiate analgesia. FICB is the current gold standard in the management of neck of femur...