Clinical Practice

Clinical care in the warm zone: a responder's perspective upon clinical practice in support of UK tactical medical operations

Remaining effective within the tactical environment requires clinicians to assess the effectiveness of their clinical practice, while continuously ensuring that their safety is not being compromised....

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...

What do ambulance service personnel perceive to be the process of and issues with inter-hospital transfers?

The literature review focused solely on works related to the purpose of the study outlined in the previous paragraph. MEDLINE, EMBASE and COCHRANE were the databases used for the four literature...

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’ .

Developing the concept of a multi-professional pre-hospital emergency medicine (PHEM) practitioner training programme

The term ‘pre-hospital emergency medicine’ (PHEM) covers a wide range of medical conditions from minor illness and injury to life-threatening emergencies. Pre-hospital interventions therefore also...

A critical review of NICE Guideline 39—major trauma: assessment and initial management

It is widely recognised that airway management in trauma can be challenging (Deakin et al, 2010). The findings of the NCEPOD (2007) report suggest that one in eight patients arrived at hospital with a...

Cardiac care in SAR helicopter paramedic practice: from mountainside to rehabilitation

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a non-specific phrase used to describe diseases of the heart and circulation. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that CVD is the leading cause of death in...

Using ambulance service PCRs to understand 999 call-outs to older people with dementia

We aimed to understand the use of emergency ambulance services by older people with dementia in two English counties..

The impact of working shifts: exploring the views of UK paramedics

The ontological influence on the research design was relativist in nature, whereby reality is believed to be constructed through meanings and understandings developed socially and experientially...

Is full pre-hospital spinal immobilisation best for the patient? A review of current controversies

Porth and Matfin (2008) describe SCI as damage to the neural elements of the spinal cord. SCIs are commonly classified using the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale (Figure 1)...