The Resus Room

Myocardial Infarction; Roadside to Resus

October 2026; papers of the month

Pupillary Reflex; Roadside to Resus

Pupillary assessment provides critical diagnostic and prognostic data for patients with neurological impairment, yet its value depends on understanding the underlying anatomy and clinical context. The sympathetic dilation pathway follows a long route through the spinal cord, while the parasympathetic constriction pathw...

September 2026; papers of the month

Pre-hospital anesthesia maintenance often relies on intermittent bolus strategies, yet these methods exhibit significant inter-patient variability and risks of sub-therapeutic dosing, suggesting that continuous infusion protocols could better standardize care and reduce clinician cognitive burden. In trauma assessment,...

August 2026; papers of the month

Emergency and trauma care requires balancing advanced pre-hospital interventions against the necessity of rapid transport to definitive care. Data from London’s Air Ambulance indicates that while advanced procedures like blood transfusion and emergency anesthesia increase scene times by 41% per intervention, overall du...

August 2026; papers of the month

Laryngectomy and Tracheostomy Emergencies; Roadside to Resus

Tracheostomy and laryngectomy emergencies require a structured, systematic approach to prevent avoidable patient harm. Tracheostomies often maintain a patent upper airway, whereas laryngectomies involve a permanent separation of the upper airway from the lungs, making the stoma the sole route for oxygenation. Clinical ...

July 2026; papers of the month

Emergency medicine clinicians evaluate three recent studies impacting clinical practice. The ARISE FLUIDS trial demonstrates that early vasopressor administration in septic shock yields similar 90-day outcomes to traditional fluid-heavy resuscitation, despite a potential reduction in pulmonary edema. Regarding in-hospi...

Excellence in Facemask Ventilation; Roadside to Resus

Face mask ventilation serves as a fundamental resuscitation skill rather than a simple, preliminary step in airway management. Achieving excellence requires meticulous attention to patient positioning, such as aligning the ear canal with the sternal notch, and employing two-handed techniques to ensure an adequate mask ...

June 2026; papers of the month

Trauma management and research in resource-constrained and urban environments require significant shifts in clinical focus. A case series from a war zone demonstrates that ultrasound-guided pericardiocentesis combined with intrapericardial tranexamic acid can serve as a definitive, life-saving intervention for penetrat...

Reframing Anaphylaxis; Roadside to Resus

Anaphylaxis management requires a paradigm shift, moving away from the traditional focus on cardiovascular collapse toward recognizing respiratory failure as the primary driver of mortality in pediatric food-related cases. Research indicates that fatal episodes are often characterized by severe bronchospasm in patients...

May 2026; papers of the month

Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage management requires precision, as aggressive systolic blood pressure reduction below 140 mmHg frequently results in overshooting, which is associated with poorer functional outcomes. Meanwhile, trauma mortality patterns remain stubbornly consistent over three decades; despite modern...

Excellence in Defibrillation; Roadside to Resus

Optimizing defibrillation in refractory ventricular fibrillation requires a shift in focus from increasing energy levels to improving the homogeneity of current distribution through strategic pad placement. Anterior-posterior (AP) pad positioning significantly outperforms standard anterolateral (AL) placement by target...

April 2026; papers of the month

Emergency and prehospital medicine practitioners evaluate three recent research papers to refine clinical decision-making. A retrospective study on blunt traumatic pneumothorax reveals that individual clinical signs, such as asymmetric lung sounds or subcutaneous emphysema, lack sufficient sensitivity for reliable preh...

Decision Making; Roadside to Resus

March 2026; papers of the month

Emergency medicine practice evolves through critical analysis of recent literature regarding cardiac arrest and airway management. Distinguishing pseudo-pulseless electrical activity (pseudo-PEA) from true PEA using point-of-care ultrasound identifies a more salvageable patient cohort, shifting the focus from standard ...

Airway Management in Trauma; Roadside to Resus

Prehospital emergency anaesthesia significantly improves survival outcomes for major trauma patients identified as high-risk for early intubation. A recent study published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine by Dr. Amy Nelson and Dr. Julian Thompson utilizes machine learning to overcome traditional observational study l...

February 2026; papers of the month

This podcast episode features Simon Lang and Rob Fenwick reviewing recent evidence-based medicine papers for February 2026. The central theme revolves around optimizing emergency care practices. The first paper challenges the conventional wisdom of requiring 360-degree access for prehospital rapid sequence intubation (...

Paediatric Seizures; Roadside to Resus

Pediatric seizures represent a significant clinical challenge, accounting for 1-2% of emergency department attendances and requiring a structured approach to prevent secondary brain injury. The pathophysiology involves a critical imbalance between excitatory glutamate and inhibitory GABA neurotransmission, which shifts...

January 2026; papers of the month

Severe traumatic brain injury patients who experience post-intubation hypotension face a significantly higher risk of 30-day mortality, with an adjusted odds ratio of 13.55 for isolated injuries. In emergency departments, elevated troponin levels in patients with stable supraventricular tachycardia correlate with a 5.3...