Clinical Practice

Emergency medical services (EMS) and waste: a review of the literature on sustainable EMS waste management

It has been claimed that ‘climate change presents the biggest single threat to health in the 21st century’ (Costello et al, 2009: 1693). As a result of this, services need to plan for the health...

The NHS Constitution lacks clout

‘There has been a stream of initiatives produced to generate public awareness regarding rights and entitlements associated with the NHS’ .

The duty of candour applies to you and your employer

‘The volunteering of all relevant information to persons who have or may have been harmed by the provision of services, whether or not the information has been requested and whether or not a...

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

The EHAAT doctor-paramedic team were dispatched to a 10-year-old girl who had been struck by a medium-sized van travelling at an unknown speed. Upon arrival of the first ambulance crew, the patient...

Moving sepsis care to the front line: knowledge and views of pre-hospital clinicians

‘Similar to an acute myocardial ischaemic attack and an acute brain attack, the speed and appropriateness of therapy administered in the initial hours after the syndrome develops are likely to...

Can paramedics treat sepsis?

The Pre-hospital Piperacillin/Tazobactam (PrePip) project tested the concept that UK paramedics could accurately recognise sepsis, aseptically take blood cultures, and safely and rapidly treat septic...

A pilot study exploring the accuracy of pre-hospital sepsis recognition in the North East Ambulance Service

It is estimated there are at least 100 000 cases of severe sepsis each year in the UK, although the true prevalence of sepsis may be higher due to under recognition (Cronshaw et al, 2011). Mortality...

A brief guide to borderline personality disorder for pre-hospital clinicians in an emergency setting

Borderline personality disorder is termed a ‘serious psychiatric disorder’ (Perseius et al, 2007) and is associated with a high rate of suicide. It is associated with transient mood shifts,...

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 search and rescue helicopter paramedic: an emerging role

The SAR paramedic role is at an exciting stage in its development. Not only is it transitioning from a predominantly military-provided service to a civilian contracted one, but also SAR paramedics are...

Are coaching and mentoring skills crucial for ambulance service managers? A personal reflection

In the 1960s, the use of the term ‘coaching’ by some experts was different to the perception we have today. Use of the term was perhaps more aligned to my own interpretation, which is, intuitively, to...