Leadership in Emergency Medicine: Resa Lewiss Resa Lewiss gives her insights into leadership. Through her experience training and working in Emergency Medicine and Critical Care, Resa has collated a series of pearls, pitfalls, and lessons shared by leaders in her own life. For Resa, there are leaders, and there are follows – more often than…
Antibiotic Use for Sepsis in Critical Care: Steve McGloughlin Steve McGloughlin presents his thoughts on antibiotics and their use in sepsis and critical care. Steve discusses the ABC of sepsis… the trouble is after A for Antibiotics there is not a whole lot else! In sepsis and severe infection, the goal is to change the…
The Use of Inhaled Nitric Oxide in Critical Care by Per P. Bredmose Per Bredmose discusses the use of inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) in retrieval medicine and critical care. He explains why iNO is useful for retrieval and transport of the critical respiratory failure patient. iNO is not a magic bullet, but rather a bridge…
When to Stop Resuscitation in Critical Care: Patricia Gerritsen How do you diagnose death? In Critical Care we deal with death on a regular basis and although it seems black and white, that is often far from the truth. Patricia Gerritsen discusses what it means to be dead and how that knowledge can aid you…
Diagnostics in Critical Care by Casey Parker Diagnostic medicine is not simple – Casey Parker discusses the finer points of the diagnostic process in critical care. Diagnosis is not black and white. The world is not black and white. It is all shades of grey and about probability. One tool that clinicians have to deal…
Lessons in Critical Care from the Battlefield: Kate Prior Kate Prior conveys the lessons she has learnt working as a doctor as part of the Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT) in Afghanistan. “Unexpected survivors” are those patients who, according to their injury severity score, should die of their injuries but they survive against the odds.…
The problems with peer reviewed research: Richard Smith Peer review is at the heart of science. Yet, as Richard Smith explains in this talk, there are many problems with peer reviewed research. As Richard argues, peer review is not an evidence-based process, but rather a faith-based process. Is it time for something different? Peer review…
Prehospital Diagnosis and Treatment of Sepsis Michael Perlmutter guides you through the prehospital diagnosis and treatment of sepsis. Sepsis is a difficult diagnosis to make. Even in the hospital, where a plethora of tests are available to assist the clinician. The diagnosis remains a challenging one, due to the very nature of sepsis. A shadowy…
The Uncertainty of Medical Evidence in Critical Care: Jeff Drazen Jeff Drazen delivers a powerful message on the use of medical evidence in critical care. Medicine is powered by knowledge… but how can we know what is true? How do we deal with uncertainty in a setting where outcomes are not closely related to known…
The role of the endothelium as a mediator of critical illness by Danny McAuley Endothelium was once thought to be an inert organ. However, it plays an important role in multiple functions. These include coagulation, inflammation and determination of vascular permeability. He then gives a brief overview of the endothelial arrangement, function of the glycocalyx…
