Greater Sydney Area HEMS

G'day, and welcome back. 

Pre-hospital clinicians are used to working under pressure. Teams work in often austere environments, with limited resources caring for some of the most severe patient pathologies at their most undifferentiated. 

Within all this, individuals and teams must perform at their peak. But this is easier said than done. So how, in this most niche of clinical areas, can an individual, a team and an organisation promote, harness and maintain peak performance?

Dr Stephen Hearns is an Emergency and Pre-Hospital Physician from Glasgow, Scotland. Stephen has spent most of his career working out-of-hospital, both in the UK and around the world. Throughout, Stephen has reflected on his own journey of peak performance, and has dedicated more recent years to the study and deep dive into what contributes to an individual and team functioning most highly in the pre-hospital space. 

In this episode, we discuss Stephen's research and published work to inform this topic. Stephen has spent time with other peak-performing groups including but not limited to Armed Forces and sporting teams, and has developed a package of learning to inform daily optimal performance. We talk about communication strategies, cognitive aids, team selection and organisational leadership - all of which, and more, contribute to peak performance. 

This episode is a must-listen for all pre-hospital clinicians intent on optimising their attainment, that of the team and that of their organisation. 

 

Learn more here: https://corecognition.co.uk/

 

Chat soon!

Hello and welcome back.

This is part two of our chat with Dr Matt Hooper, continuing our conversation on emergency last aid.

In this episode, we discuss the hows and whens involved when informing a family of their loved one's death, as well as the setting in which to do this.

Too, we discuss the importance of maintaining space and safety for one's self and the team, and how a system can encourage psychological safety in this regard. 

As with part one, please ensure this episode is the right one for you - this is a challenging and emotionally-charged topic and whilst very important, please make sure it is the right episode at the right time for you.

Chat soon.

G'day, and welcome back.

In today's episode, we are delighted and privileged to be joined by South Australia's Dr Matt Hooper.

The practice of medicine - including pre-hospital medicine - often focuses on life preservation. But, as acute care clinicians we often also find ourselves caring for patients at the end of their life. Too, we find ourselves caring for their relatives and loved ones, and the wider medical team. It can be really challenging to provide this care in such an acute, unexpected and unstable setting - so how do we do it, how do we stabilise the moment and continue to deliver compassionate care?

This is the work of Dr Matt Hooper, who together with colleagues has created the 'emergency last aid' program - designed to teach the foundational skills needed to deliver compassionate end-of-life care in high-pressure environments. Drawing on his experience as a pre-hospital, intensive care and palliative care physician, Matt talks us through his approach to these challenging, rewarding circumstances. 

Before listening to this episode, please ensure it is the right episode for you: talking about death, dying and grief can be triggering for some, so please ensure that this episode is what you need, at the right time, and that you have support around you. 

 

Part two coming soon, chat then.

G'day and welcome back.

Damage control resuscitation - what is it, why should a pre-hospital provider do it, what does it look like in real life, and what are the results. 

These are but some of the questions asked in this episode of Dr Dan Nevin and Mr Zane Perkins, Consultants with London's Air Ambulance. In conversation with Sydney's Dr Ian Ferguson, we explore this approach to the care of the bleeding trauma patient, focusing on the key tenants of this method and some of the mandated actions required when a patient is declared a damage control resuscitation case. 

To be clear - these are patients requiring a modified approach to even a 'code crimson/red' patient - these are the absolute most sick of all pre-hospital bleeding trauma patients. 

Too, as ever we discuss the effect on the wider system of this novel approach as well as the potential associated modifications to conventional trauma care. 

Thanks for listening, chat soon.

G'day and welcome back to the podcast.

ECMO....in trauma? Today, we are talking about a more general emergency medicine / intensive care medicine topic, that of advanced trauma care. It is fair to raise an eyebrow at 'advanced trauma care' and 'ECMO' in the same sentence - these patients are anatomically disrupted, prone to bleeding and suffering huge multi-system injuries. So placing them onto a heparinised ECMO circuit seems counterintuitive. 

But, Chris Bishop and the team from London offer a different perspective. 

Chris is a Senior Clinical Research Fellow at the Centre for Trauma Sciences at Queen Mary University of London, UK. His PhD research focuses on the potential utility of veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) to treat cardiac dysfunction associated with major trauma haemorrhage. Indeed, as we have discussed elsewhere in the podcast, these patients often have refractory cardiogenic shock secondary to an unfavourable metabolic storm following massive acute trauma - and it is partly this which ECMO may help bridge. 

Too, we discuss with Chris the benefit of ECMO as part of a neuro-protection package of care in patients with severe lung injury who are challenging to ventilate. 

This is real cutting edge medicine, and we are delighted to share with you our chat with Chris. 

Speak to you soon.