pre-hospital

Should the Kendrick Extrication Device have a place in pre-hospital care?

Essentially the KED is a flexible mini back board that, when in position on the casualty, extends from their lower back to above their head. It also extends laterally to encompass the flanks and head,...

Spotlight on Research

Although over recent years there has been an increased volume of research relating to out-of-hospital emergency and unscheduled care, Lerner et al (2015) suggest the evidence base remains limited,...

Pre-hospital technology research: reflecting on a collaborative project between ambulance service and academia

The MIME technology consisted of two key components: i) lightweight medical sensors that were simple to apply and operate (see Figure 1), and ii) novel software that presented these data very simply,...

A critical appraisal of the pre-hospital management of cervical spine injury in children and young people

A literature review was performed using the following databases: CINAHL, Medline and Pubmed. The search terms used were ‘prehospital’, ‘paramedic’, ‘emergency medical service’, ‘cervical spine’,...

Essex and Herts Air Ambulance: a focused case series for pre-hospital practice

We report the case of a 38-year-old male who was working on an industrial site loading 2-tonne paper rolls into the container of a heavy goods vehicle (HGV). When one of the paper rolls slipped off...

Essex and Herts Air Ambulance: a focused case series for pre-hospital practice Case 3: a femoral shaft fracture

A 23-year-old woman who, while crossing the road, was hit by a car coming towards her from her right side. Witnesses reported that the car drove over the patient and dragged her a few yards down the...

Evaluation of pre-hospital point-of-care testing for lactate in sepsis and trauma patients

This study was designed to examine the feasibility, and potential impacts, of introducing POC lactate measurement into pre-hospital care within NEAS. The primary objective was to evaluate the Nova...

Spotlight on Research

The paper describes a surveillance study conducted by poisons specialists working at the four National Poisons Information Service (NPIS) centres covering the UK. The service since 2005 has...

Essex and Herts Air Ambulance: a focused case series for pre-hospital practice Case 2: tension pneumothorax

A 55-year-old man lost control and was ejected from his motorcycle at approximately 60 miles per hour on a country road. The patient was wearing a helmet and full protective clothing. When the first...

Application of the iTClamp™ in the clinical management of haemorrhage: a case study

A male patient was stabbed below the jaw line to the left side of the face/neck. The initial call suggested a catastrophic haemorrhage. On scene, the male patient had an obvious and considerable...

RCSEd Consensus Documents: improving the evidence base for pre-hospital practice

In the pre-hospital context the response teams are doing all they can to save lives. A terrifying ordeal or horrific accident comes without warning at any time of the day or night. With lives at risk,...