In May, our team’s clinical training theme was paediatrics. Training Lead and Critical Care Practitioner Amy McGufficke, provides this update.

“The day commenced with another journal club by Dr Dave Martin, which stimulated discussion around the cardiovascular effects of isolated head injury. As a service, we continue to witness this pathophysiology, but identifying it confidently in the pre-hospital environment and treating it effectively can be problematic. Deep dives into challenging topics like this can help us evolve the care we deliver.

“We were then joined by Dr Kim Sykes, a Consultant Paediatric Intensivist, who delivered an excellent presentation on neonatal critical illness and shared her experience and expertise with our team.

“The team then rotated through four stations:

• A paediatric PHEA (prehospital emergency anaesthetic) simulation 
• Optimising and troubleshooting the airway and ventilation in children 
• Packaging for interhospital transfer using the babypod (an infant transport device) 
• Emergency tracheostomy (a very rare but lifesaving surgical procedure that involves making a hole and inserting a tube from the front of the neck into the windpipe to allow a patient to breathe)

“A huge thank you to our team of paediatric experts: Phil Hyde, Kim Sykes, Owen Hammett, Matt Taylor and Struan Reid, who made this a really useful and interactive training day which will benefit the region and future DSAA patients.”