LITFL Update 057
Sending you free open-access medical (FOAM) content from around the globe. We keep an eye on all the trends and best articles and share them with you so that you stay on top of your field.
MedPod Learn is a curated FOAMed podcast player with thousands of emergency and critical care episodes. You can add summaries, MCQs and reflections in a few taps. Built by clinicians for time-pressed clinicians who learn on the move.
Learn or Blame: “That patient you saw yesterday…” We’ve all been there; your heart sinks, your spine stiffens… This post isn’t for those hearing those words; it’s for those saying those words and those who are partaking in an adverse patient safety event investigation.
Augustus Desiré Waller (1856-1922) was a Franco-British physiologist known for recording the first human electrocardiogram (ECG) in 1887. He trained in medicine at the University of Aberdeen and later lectured in physiology at St Mary’s Hospital and the London School of Medicine for Women.
Latest updates from the #FOAMed world
This podcast from Resus breaks down the critical paediatric heart conditions clinicians can’t afford to miss. Dr Peter Kas uses a simple framework—shock, cyanosis and heart failure—to highlight how congenital heart disease often presents subtly before rapid deterioration. A high-yield refresher for ED and paediatric teams wanting sharper recognition and earlier intervention.
Still reaching for the NRB? It may be giving far less O₂ than you expect. HFNC beats it on flow, FiO₂, comfort, and safety. Maybe it’s time to let the dinosaur go.
The latest Journal Club brings an eclectic mix of emergency-medicine-relevant evidence: from ditching steroid “pretreatments” for contrast allergy, to rethinking positioning for stroke patients awaiting thrombectomy, to new data on suction use in rapid sequence intubation. There’s also a major sepsis-resuscitation update (capillary-refill-guided), fresh thoughts on arterial lines in shock, and an alert on ultrasound-probe cover leaks — plus broader reflections on training for clinical uncertainty and the future of EM.
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Emergency nurse with ultra-keen interest in the realms of toxicology, sepsis, eLearning and the management of critical care in the Emergency Department | LinkedIn |
BA MA (Oxon) MBChB (Edin) FACEM FFSEM. Emergency physician, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. Passion for rugby; medical history; medical education; and asynchronous learning #FOAMed evangelist. Co-founder and CTO of Life in the Fast lane | On Call: Principles and Protocol 4e| Eponyms | Books |