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Showing results for tags 'Emergency medicine'.
Found 373 results
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Content ArticleHomerton University Hospital started a journey with some of its closest suppliers to develop a digital-health tech app. Initially starting with action cards for sepsis, expanding to other topics, and then developing into a smart phone app used trust-wide, with the primary goal of addressing high-risk incidents within the trust.
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Content ArticleEmergency service workers describe how being on the front line affects their mental health, how they cope with the traumas they see and their advice for colleagues on how to stay mentally fit. Wellbeing staff from the first responder agencies also provide information about the help and support programmes available, including peer support.
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Content Article
HSJ Patient Safety Congress 2018 - Alison Phillips' Story
Claire Cox posted an article in Patient stories
Alison Phillips tells HSJ her story and why she's campaigning for the deteriorating patient and safety. -
Content Article
A&E Delirium Assessment Tool
Claire Cox posted an article in Care assessment
This tool will enable a swift delirium assessment of a patient that arrives in the emergency department. -
Content ArticleResuscitation in the pre-hospital setting is very challenging. To give the best possible care, teamwork needs to be optimal. Tom Evens, an emergency physician with Londons Air Ambulance and former coach of the Olympic UK rowing team, shows us how performance psychology will help you in providing critical care at the roadside. Presented at the ResusNL Conference 2019.
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Content ArticleThe Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) launched an investigation following the referral of a case from an acute trust involving failure of oxygen delivery during a resuscitation. The case highlighted several issues related to the safe delivery of oxygen from portable systems.
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Content ArticleThere has never been a wider mix of illnesses and issues seen by the UK ambulance services. There's also never been more different care pathways. It can sometimes be hard to know what the best thing to do is. Choice fatigue, along with patients sometime presenting in the same way as others can lead crews to make some challenging decisions. In this podcast from General Broadcast, some of the patient safety team sit down to talk about what's important when leaving a patient at home and what safety netting needs to be in place. General Broadcast covers the whole of the Ambulance service, from clinical to non-technical skills, from best practice to learning from incidents and more.
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Content ArticleThis US-focused article looks at the evolution of the ambulance service and the methods used to try to ensure that supply meets demand.
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Content ArticleEmergency abdominal surgery (EAS) refers to high-risk intra-abdominal surgical procedures undertaken for acute gastrointestinal pathology. The relationship between hospital or surgeon volume and mortality of patients undergoing EAS is poorly understood. This study, published in BMJ Open, examined this relationship at the national level.
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Content ArticleMajor critical illness events, such as cardiopulmonary arrest and intensive care unit (ICU) transfer, disrupt workflow in a hospital ward. Other patients on the same ward may receive inadequate attention, especially if their care team is distracted by the emergency. Most studies have concentrated on patient-level variables associated with outcomes.This paper, published by JAMA, looks at the risk to ward occupants associated with patients on the same ward experiencing critical illness.
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Content ArticleThe reference event in this HSIB investigation is the case of a 58-year-old woman who deteriorated and died within 24-hours of presenting at hospital, two weeks after having surgery. The national investigation reviewed relevant research and safety literature relating to recognition and response to deteriorating patients, engaged with national subject matter advisors and consulted with professional bodies.
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Content Article
COVID-19: guidance for Ambulance Trusts
Claire Cox posted an article in Guidance
This guidance set out by Public Health England is for possible cases of COVID-19 where an emergency ambulance response is required. Content includes: identification of possible cases on-scene clinician precautions personal protective equipment (PPE) patient assessment conveyance and patient handover post conveyance decontamination. -
Content ArticleDan Phillips, Clinical Lead from the East of England Ambulance Service, talks to General Broadcast about their aims to reduce time on scene for seriously unwell patients. He looks specifically at a project called 10-10 and how to improve outcomes for stroke patients.
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Content ArticlePaediatric cardiac arrest is unlikely to be caused by a cardiac problem and is more likely to be a respiratory one, making ventilations crucial to the child’s chances of survival. However, for those not trained in paediatric resuscitation, the most important thing is to act quickly to ensure the child gets the treatment they need in the critical situation. This page contains:an EPALS algorithm for paediatric COVID-19 patients.a flowchart on the resuscitation of paediatric COVID-19 patients in hospital.
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Content ArticleThe Extensive Care Service is part of the Fylde coast Vanguard and is designed for frail elderly patients with two or more long-term conditions who are at high-risk of an emergency admission. Working closely with patients, the service aims to assist them to improve their health and wellbeing; support them to manage their own conditions and provide effective interventions when needed in order to better manage exacerbations of their conditions. One of the key components of the care model is patient activation. The service teams’ understanding of an individual’s ability to contribute to the management of their own health and wellbeing is key to ensuring the success of this approach. The model is new, different and includes the development of a unique role - a ‘wellbeing support worker’. These individuals are a consistent feature in a model which enables a fuller understanding of a patient’s ‘activation’ ability so that engagement and support can be tailored appropriately.
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Content ArticleA 24/7 clinical tele-triage service for care homes in Wirral has resulted in an average 66% decrease in the number of NHS 111 calls and a 10% decrease in ambulance conveyances to A&E for care home residents. The service is delivered by all the area’s health and social care partners with funding support from the Innovation Agency. Care homes have been provided with iPads and secure nhs.net email addresses, and staff have been trained to take basic observations and equipped with blood pressure monitors, thermometers, urine dipsticks and oximeters.
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Content ArticleThe South Western Ambulance Service (SWASFT) launched a new electronic patient care record (ePCR) with Weston Area Health NHS Trust – an electronic solution designed by paramedics for paramedics. They discuss the background to the project and how the ePCR was designed.
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Content ArticleImproving and widening access to care for children and adults needing mental health support is a key priority for the NHS, as outlined in the Long Term Plan. Tthe West of England AHSN are working with NHS commissioners and providers, industry partners, other AHSNs, local trusts, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and community providers on a wide range of initiatives to support their work to improve mental healthcare and wellbeing.
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Content ArticleThe aorta is the largest artery in the body. Acute dissection occurs when a spontaneous tear allows blood to flow between the layers of the wall of the aorta, which may then rupture with catastrophic consequences. There are about 2,500 cases per year in England, with around 50% of patients dying before they reach a specialist centre for care and 20-30% of patients dying before they reach any hospital. This Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) report highlights the difficulty which can face hospital staff in recognising acute aortic dissection. Although sudden severe chest or back pain is the most common symptom, the picture can vary or mimic other conditions, which may lead to an incorrect diagnosis or delays in recognising a life-threatening condition which needs urgent treatment.
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Content ArticleCauda Equina Syndrome (CES) is a rare but serious spinal condition and if not diagnosed and treated swiftly, it can result in lifechanging injury. Nearly a quarter of compensation claims for spinal surgery in England relate to CES. This CES pathway and accompanying guidance by the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme, aims to provide healthcare professionals working in all care settings with the ability to effectively diagnose and care for patients presenting with suspected Cauda Equina Syndrome.
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Content ArticleThe purpose of this investigation by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) was to help improve patient safety in relation to the instructions 999 call handlers give to women and pregnant people who are waiting for an ambulance because of an emergency during their pregnancy. The HSIB investigation reviewed the case of Amy, who was 39 weeks and 4 days pregnant with her first child. She contacted 999 after experiencing abdominal cramps and bleeding. While waiting for an ambulance to arrive, Amy received pre-arrival instructions which were generated through a clinical decision support system (CDSS) from a non-clinical call handler. Amy was then taken by ambulance to hospital where her baby, Benjamin, was delivered by emergency caesarean section. Amy had excessive blood loss due to a placental abruption and was admitted to the high dependency unit for 12 hours following the birth. Benjamin required resuscitation to help him breathe on his own, he was intubated, and he received 72 hours of therapeutic cooling. He spent 13 days in hospital.
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Content ArticleThis information sheet produced by South Australia Health's Safety and Quality Unit describes how patients and staff can work together to make sure that if clinical deterioration occurs, it will be acted upon in a timely and effective manner. The information also applies to carers, family members, friends or the patient’s appointed responsible person. It includes information relating to deterioration during an emergency department visit or hospital stay, and at and after discharge.
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Content ArticleThis Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) investigation explores the impact of ambulance delays on the emergency treatment of heart attack. The current preferred model of care in the NHS in England is for patients to receive primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI), a procedure which involves widening a blocked artery and inserting a stent to keep the artery open. The effectiveness of PPCI is dependent on the timescale in which it can be carried out. National figures have identified increasing delays in ambulances taking people with a type of heart attack known as ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) to hospital so that PPCI can be provided within target timescales. This may lead to worse outcomes for these patients. Alternative treatment using thrombolytic medicine (medicines used to dissolve blood clots) is advised where specific timescales for providing PPCI may not be met. This investigation started after a patient notified HSIB of a delay in an ambulance attending him after suffering a heart attack (STEMI).
