Issue 35: February 2010

Issue 35: February 2010

General
Spotting the sick child
This new interactive tool has been launched by the Department of Health to support health professionals in the assessment of the acutely sick child..

Websites and policy documents
NHS Evidence’s Emergency and Urgent Care Specialist Collection has put together a list of websites and policy and supporting documents published in 2009 on the management and organisation of emergency care.
Policy and supporting documents 2009
Useful websites for policy and supporting documents

Evidence-Based Medicine

BestBETS – Best Evidence Topics provide rapid evidence-based answers to real-life clinical questions, using a systematic approach to reviewing the literature. Three new or modified BETS were added last month.
Does the clinical finding of ear wax exclude the finding of otitis media?
Blood component therapy in trauma patients requiring massive transfusion
Should an infant who is breastfeeding poorly and has a tongue tie undergo a tongue tie division?

Cochrane Library
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
Antibiotics and antiseptics for venous leg ulcers
Benzodiazepines for the relief of breathlessness in advanced malignant and non-malignant diseases in adults
Blood transfusions for treating acute chest syndrome in people with sickle cell disease
Damage control surgery for abdominal trauma
Haemostatic drugs for traumatic brain injury
Interventions for acute otitis externa
Interventions for treating traumatised permanent front teeth: avulsed (knocked out) and replanted

Guidelines
Clinical policy: critical issues in the management of adult patients presenting to the emergency department with suspected appendicitis (American College of Emergency Physicians)
Management of severe local anaesthetic toxicity (Association of Anaesthetists)
Pandemic (H1N1) influenza: a summary of guidance for infection control in healthcare settings (DoH)

Highlights from the Literature

Emergency Medicine Journal 27 (2) February 2010
Reduced productivity among junior trainees in the emergency department and the impact on senior clinicians
Variability in management of early severe sepsis
A nurse-led ‘first fitter’ clinic in a paediatric emergency department: an experience

Conferences, Study Days and Courses
Patient Safety in Acute Medicine 17 Feb 2010
RSM Event: Fire and Ice 19 Feb 2010, London
Basic Trauma Course - Saturday 20th February, Saturday 22 May, Saturday 10 July 2010
Biannual Symposium on Paediatric Emergency Medicine Covering ST3 Competencies, 3 Mar 2010, Liverpool
Hypertension, Stroke and Acute Care Medicine Symposium 10 March 2010
Management of Respiratory Emergencies - An Update for Physicians RCP Joint conference with the British Thoracic Society 4 March 2010 London
Mayday and St Heliers’ University Hospitals: Emergency Ultrasound Courses (Level 1), 20 Mar 2010,
Hypertension, Stroke and Acute Care Medicine Symposium, 10 Mar 2010
Essentials of Emergency Radiology 22 March 2010, Bradford
ATLS Course - Mayday University Hospital, London, 26-28 Mar 2010
Inaugural Spring CPD Event, College of Emergency Medicine 20-22 April 2010 The King’s Fund, London
Hyperacute Ischaemic Stroke 23 April 2010, London
UK Training in Emergency Airway Management (TEAM) Course 13-14 May; 2-3 June; 27-28 September; 13-14 October 2010
Emergency Physicians in Intensive Care 5 May 2010, London
Ultrasound in Acute Care 2010, 14 Jun 2010, Oldham

New Medscape Emergency Medicine CME
Intensive Insulin Therapy May Not Improve Survival in Septic Shock
Steroids May Effectively Relieve Pain of Acute Pharyngitis



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