London Trauma Conference addresses key questions in emergency medicine

The ninth London Trauma Conference took place at the Royal Geographical Society, Kensington Gore, between 8 December and 11 December 2015. A main programme of presentations, where speakers addressed a number of topical questions in trauma and emergency medicine, was supplemented by breakaway sessions held parallel to the main conference. The concurrent London Cardiac Arrest Symposium also returned for another year. The Journal of Paramedic Practice once again attended the Air Ambulance and Pre-hospital Care Day held on 10 December, which focused on trauma issues directly relevant to professionals working in the pre-hospital setting.

Proceedings began with Prof Pierre Carli discussing pre-hospital extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Carli gave an overview of how the treatment works in Paris, providing results and considering its role in the future. Interestingly, it was found in France that transferring into hospital for ECMO with ongoing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) had very poor results, and so the need for earlier intervention and pre-hospital ECMO became apparent.