Ep 126 - December 2018 Round Up

A Deep Dive into December: The Best of St. Emlyn’s Blog and Beyond Welcome to the St. Emlyn’s Podcast! I’m Simon Carley, and today we’re going to journey through December 2018. This month has been filled with intriguing discussions, significant insights, and top-notch blogs from a variety of experts. As we wrap up the year and get ready to welcome 2019, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the key topics that have shaped our discussions around Christmas and the New Year. Tribalism in Healthcare with Ross Fischer First up, we have an insightful contribution from Ross Fischer, a key member of the St. Emlyn’s team and a Pediatric Surgeon based in Sheffield. Ross has delved into the topic of tribalism in healthcare, a subject we've explored previously but which remains ever relevant. Tribalism refers to the formation of groups or 'tribes' based on common beliefs and cultures, which significantly influences our behaviour and treatment approaches in healthcare. Ross's blog revisits a remarkable presentation by Vic Brazil at SMACC Gold in 2014, highlighting how tribalism drives our interactions and behaviours within the medical field. In healthcare, tribes often form around specialities – emergency physicians, surgeons, anaesthetists, etc. While having a strong group identity can be positive, it can also lead to unhealthy competition and misunderstandings. For example, emergency physicians might unfairly label surgeons as uncooperative, which is not only untrue but also counterproductive. Ross's extensive experience across various medical cultures has given him a unique perspective on this issue. His blog emphasizes the importance of recognizing and mitigating tribalism to foster better cooperation and ultimately improve patient care. Some strategies he suggests include using personal names during referrals, face-to-face communication, being supportive rather than critical when things go wrong, organizing social events across specialities, and calling out tribalism in casual conversations. Conservative Management of Chest Trauma Next, I’ve put together a blog on the conservative management of chest trauma, inspired by several presentations I've done this year on torso trauma. The increasing body of evidence suggests that not all chest injuries, such as hemothoraces and small pneumothoraces, require invasive intervention. Reflecting on my early days in emergency medicine, we operated under the strict guideline that any pneumothorax or hemothorax warranted a chest drain. However, advances in imaging technology, like whole-body CT scans, have revealed that many small pneumothoraces and hemothoraces were previously undetected and thus untreated without significant complications. Recent studies, including a substantial observational study by Walker, support the safety of conservative management for many of these cases. This shift in practice aligns with our experiences here in Virchester, where we often opt to observe rather than immediately intervene with chest drains, even in ventilated patients. The evidence is still evolving, but it’s encouraging to see data supporting less invasive approaches. Intensive Care Insights with Dan Horner Dan Horner, Professor of Emergency Medicine at Virchester West, has shared three exceptional posts from our time at the Intensive Care Society conference in London. The interface between emergency medicine and ICU is a critical area, and Dan’s insights are invaluable for anyone interested in this field. One standout topic from the conference was Tom Evans' presentation on exercise physiology. Though I missed it, the demonstration with Olympic rowers on stage, showcasing their lactate levels, was reportedly phenomenal. This type of hands-on demonstration highlights the extraordinary resilience and adaptability of human physiology, insights that are crucial for both emergency and intensive care practitioners. In addition to exercise physiology, Dan and I covered the continuum of patient care