The Resus Room

The Wider World of Pre-hospital Care; Roadside to Resus

December 2025; papers of the month

The December 2025 "Papers of the Month" episode evaluates three clinical studies impacting emergency and critical care practice. The EVERDAC trial challenges the necessity of early arterial line placement in shock, demonstrating that deferring insertion is non-inferior to routine early catheterization regarding 28-day ...

Resuscitation Guidelines 2025; Roadside to Resus

The podcast focuses on the updated resuscitation guidelines from ILCOR, ERC, and the UK Resuscitation Council, highlighting key changes and their implications for practice. It emphasizes effective ventilation, advocating for early and proficient techniques like bag valve mask and video laryngoscopy. The discussion cove...

November 2025; papers of the month

Pre-hospital emergency care relies on evolving evidence to optimize patient outcomes in time-critical scenarios. Research from the London Air Ambulance demonstrates that central venous access for patients in hemorrhagic shock is feasible, enabling higher volumes of blood product delivery with acceptable complication ra...

Pre-Alert '25; Roadside to Resus

October 2025; papers of the month

This podcast episode centers on critical appraisals of recent research papers relevant to emergency medicine and resuscitation. The first paper examines the feasibility and value of arterial line placement during cardiac arrest in the emergency department, highlighting its potential for improved ROSC detection, while n...

Sickle Cell Disease; Roadside to Resus

Sickle cell disease, a hereditary hemoglobin disorder, requires urgent, structured emergency care to prevent avoidable mortality and morbidity. The condition stems from a single amino acid mutation in the beta-globin chain, causing red blood cells to sickle under stress, leading to vaso-occlusive crises, tissue infarct...

September 2025; papers of the month

Emergency resuscitation research requires rigorous system-level evaluation to improve patient outcomes. A feasibility study in Sydney demonstrates that pre-hospital eCPR can achieve successful cannulation and reduced low-flow times when integrated into a mature, well-coordinated ambulance system. Similarly, a UK-based ...

August 2025; papers of the month

Advancing Cardiac Arrest Care, SPEAR; Roadside to Resus

This podcast explores advanced techniques in cardiac arrest management, focusing on the SPEAR course and endovascular resuscitation. It highlights the importance of invasive blood pressure monitoring for accurate physiological assessment, contrasting it with the limitations of non-invasive methods, particularly in hypo...

July 2025; papers of the month

Emergency medicine practitioners evaluate three clinical studies to inform resuscitation and acute care practices. A systematic review of post-cardiac arrest management indicates that noradrenaline may lower the odds of recurrent arrest compared to adrenaline, though current evidence remains primarily observational and...

Pain; Roadside to Resus

Acute pain management in emergency and pre-hospital settings requires a shift from reliance on opioids to a holistic, multimodal strategy. Pain is a complex, subjective experience influenced by biological, psychological, and social factors, necessitating that patient reports be accepted without clinician judgment. Curr...

June 2025; papers of the month

Cardiac arrest management and emergency department efficiency define these evaluations of three recent medical papers. Audio-visual CPR feedback devices significantly increase return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) and survival rates, whereas metronome-only feedback lacks statistical significance. In traumatic cardia...

GCS; Roadside to Resus

The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) serves as a standardized clinical tool for tracking impaired consciousness, though its utility extends far beyond its original 1974 design for traumatic brain injury. While often used to guide airway management, the scale is not a linear predictor of mortality; the motor component provides ...

May 2025; papers of the month

Emergency medicine practice relies on evolving evidence, as demonstrated by the review of three recent clinical studies. Retrospective analysis of pre-hospital thrombolysis for cardiac arrest reveals a 5% survival rate, underscoring the diagnostic difficulty in identifying thromboembolic causes and the limited benefit ...

Opioid Overdose; Roadside to Resus

Opioid overdose presents as a clinical triad of central nervous system depression, respiratory depression, and miosis. Effective management prioritizes physiological stabilization—specifically airway support and oxygenation—over immediate, full pharmacological reversal. Excessive naloxone administration often triggers ...

April 2025; papers of the month

Emergency medicine research requires rigorous critical appraisal to distinguish between actionable evidence and clinical bias. The HINTS examination for posterior circulation strokes demonstrates high sensitivity but demands expert-level training, limiting its consistent application in busy emergency departments. Simil...

Electrical Injuries; Roadside to Resus

Electrical injuries present a broad clinical spectrum, requiring a systematic approach that balances trauma assessment with cardiac monitoring. Pathophysiological damage is governed by Ohm’s and Joule’s laws, where current, resistance, and duration determine the extent of tissue necrosis and cardiac disruption. Scene s...

March 2025; papers of the month

Emergency medicine research requires critical evaluation to improve clinical practice, particularly regarding resuscitation and trauma management. Qualitative analysis of unsuccessful out-of-hospital cardiac arrest reveals that relatives experience significant psychological trauma, necessitating improved communication,...

Maternal Arrest; Roadside to Resus

Maternal cardiac arrest requires immediate, specialized interventions due to unique physiological changes, including reduced functional residual capacity and aortocaval compression from the gravid uterus. Standard advanced life support remains the foundation, but manual uterine displacement is critical to improve cardi...