Greater Sydney Area HEMS

Sydney HEMS Team

The Pre-Hospital & Retrieval Medicine Team of NSW Ambulance

  1. HEMS Debrief - Retrieval and Pre-Hospital Medicine #3. ECMO...in trauma???

    2d ago

    HEMS Debrief - Retrieval and Pre-Hospital Medicine #3. ECMO...in trauma???

    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.

    1h 1m
  2. HEMS Debrief - Cardiac Arrest Focus #23, Prof Sheldon Cheskes - Part 2: Defibrillation Strategies for Refractory Ventricular Fibrillation

    May 31

    HEMS Debrief - Cardiac Arrest Focus #23, Prof Sheldon Cheskes - Part 2: Defibrillation Strategies for Refractory Ventricular Fibrillation

    G'day and welcome back into part two of our conversation with Prof Sheldon Cheskes from Toronto, Canada. Here we continue our discussion about refractory cardiac dysrhythmias with the Sheldon, the principal investigator of 'The dose VF' study.  In this part two, we talk to Sheldon about chemical strategies to overcome these dysrhythmias, as well as ask Sheldon about this best case ever - its a cracker! Thanks for listening, chat soon.   We are delighted to be sponsored by Corpuls - delivering high-tech and innovative equipment for emergency and intensive care medicine for over 35 years.

    34 min
  3. HEMS Debrief - Cardiac Arrest Focus #22, Prof Sheldon Cheskes - Defibrillation Strategies for Refractory Ventricular Fibrillation

    May 21

    HEMS Debrief - Cardiac Arrest Focus #22, Prof Sheldon Cheskes - Defibrillation Strategies for Refractory Ventricular Fibrillation

    G'day and welcome back to the HEMS debrief podcast.  We are back with part one of a two part episode with Professor Sheldon Cheskes from Toronto, Canada. Sheldon is a Professor of Emergency Medicine by trade, a clinical scientist and a medical director for ambulance services within the Canadian province of Ontario. Perhaps, though, Sheldon is best known for his work as the principal investigator in the 'Dose VF' study, during which Sheldon and the team demonstrate the effectiveness of double sequential external defibrillation (DSED; rapid sequential shocks from two defibrillators) and vector-change (VC) in patients suffering from shock refractory ventricular fibrillation. This ground-breaking out-of-hospital trial has been the subject of great interest amongst pre-hospital and in-hospital clinicians alike, and demonstrates very promising data supporting these two defibrillation strategies.  We are delighted, then, to talk to the man himself on the podcast today. Sheldon shares with us data from the study, and talks with us about the underlying physiology and pathology of this patient cohort, as well as how a health care system needs to best accommodate this potential salvageable group of cardiac arrest sufferers.  A link to the New England Journal of Medicine paper is below, and as ever we hope you enjoy listening to this and part of of Sheldon's episode.  Chat soon!   https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2207304   We are delighted to be sponsored by Corpuls - delivering high-tech and innovative equipment for emergency and intensive care medicine for over 35 years.

    43 min

  4. Apr 26

    HEMS Debrief - Retrieval and Pre-Hospital Medicine #2. Thoracotomies, Sydney and London in Conversation

    G'day and welcome back. Today, we continue our conversation on pre-hospital thoracotomies. To do this, we have teamed up with Professor Ewoud Ter Avest, an Emergency Physician with the London HEMS service. Ewoud is an author on the London's recently published review paper discussing the Service's experience with pre-hospital thoracotomies over the past 20 years. In conversation with our own Dr Ian Ferguson and Chris Ennis, who are authors on a similar paper out of Sydney, we will consider the shared themes, learnings and evolutions of this acute procedure between the two services.  In so doing, we continue to discuss optimal timing of a pre-hospital thoracotomy, what constitutes signs of life, and which patient groups are most likely to most benefit from the procedure.  This is a fascinating episode and as ever, we hope you enjoy it.   We are delighted to be sponsored by Corpuls - delivering high-tech and innovative equipment for emergency and intensive care medicine for over 35 years.

    57 min
  5. HEMS Debrief - Cardiac Arrest Focus #21, Prof Laurie Morrison - 2025 ILCOR guidelines part 2

    Apr 12

    HEMS Debrief - Cardiac Arrest Focus #21, Prof Laurie Morrison - 2025 ILCOR guidelines part 2

    G'day, and welcome back. In this part two of our chat with Prof Laurie Morrison from Toronto, we continue our conversation around the latest ILCOR guidelines. We discuss, amongst other things, strategies to manage recurrent / refractory dysrhythmias, as well as the use of mechanical CPR devices and the administration of adrenaline. Too, we quiz Laurie on how guidelines and written and interpreted, and the choice of the language used.    As ever, we hope you enjoy this episode - be sure to tune back in soon for more general retrieval topics, as well as more focused discussion around cardiac arrest.    We are delighted to be sponsored by Corpuls - delivering high-tech and innovative equipment for emergency and intensive care medicine for over 35 years.

    37 min
  6. HEMS Debrief - Cardiac Arrest Focus #20, Prof Laurie Morrison - 2025 ILCOR guidelines part 1

    Mar 29

    HEMS Debrief - Cardiac Arrest Focus #20, Prof Laurie Morrison - 2025 ILCOR guidelines part 1

    G'day, and welcome back to the HEMS debrief - continuing our chats on cardiac arrest.  We are thrilled to be again joined by Prof Laurie Morrison from Toronto, Canada. Laurie is an Emergency Physician and has dedicated her career to the research and improvement of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest care. To this end, Laurie is a member of ILCOR where she has previously been named a 'Giant in Resuscitation'. Today, join Laurie in conversation with Nat for part one of a two part episode discussing the latest 2025 ILCOR guidelines.  These guidelines are packed - with concern given to CPR modes, effective defibrillation and the use of adrenaline to name but some. Who better to discuss this than Laurie herself - who with Nat spells out the guidelines to best help us all improve our cardiac arrest care.  Be sure to tune in soon for part two of this episode, as well as for more chat on pre-hospital thoracotomies.      We are delighted to be sponsored by Corpuls - delivering high-tech and innovative equipment for emergency and intensive care medicine for over 35 years.

    44 min
  7. HEMS Debrief - Cardiac Arrest Focus #19, Dr Cliff Reid - PEA

    Mar 16

    HEMS Debrief - Cardiac Arrest Focus #19, Dr Cliff Reid - PEA

    G'day and welcome back to the Debrief, another episode here of the cardiac arrest deep dive. Today is a cracker - we have our very own Dr Cliff Reid in conversation with Nat, discussing PEA. Now, anyone who knows Cliff will know he is passionate about many things, one of which is PEA - specifically the nomenclature around PEA and the differences between PEA patients, and thus how we treat them; not all PEAs are the same, and therefore the treatment considerations need to be equally as nuanced.  In this episode, Nat and Cliff break down different PEA cohorts, and use their own experiences to colour-in the fascinating discussion of this often over-looked subset of cardiac arrest patients.    A huge thank you to all those who listen to the podcast in NSW, Australia and beyond - we are so grateful for your continued encouragement and support.  Let's continue to get excited about cardiac arrest, as we listen to Nat and Cliff discuss all things PEA.    We are delighted to be sponsored by Corpuls - delivering high-tech and innovative equipment for emergency and intensive care medicine for over 35 years.

    27 min
  8. HEMS Debrief - Retrieval and Pre-Hospital Medicine #1. Thoracotomies, with Dr Ian Ferguson and Chris Ennis.

    Mar 2

    HEMS Debrief - Retrieval and Pre-Hospital Medicine #1. Thoracotomies, with Dr Ian Ferguson and Chris Ennis.

    G'day, and welcome back to the Sydney HEMS Debrief podcast.  Today, we re-introduce some more general pre-hospital retrieval medicine matters, and what could be more retrieval medicine than a pre-hospital thoracotomy. Joining the pod today, we have Dr Ian Ferguson and CCP Chris Ennis who together discuss their recently published research paper on this HALO procedure.  This case series reviews all cases of pre-hospital resuscitative thoracotomy undertaken from 1st Jan 2013 until 31st December 2024, within the NSW physician-CCP pre-hospital system. In concert with recently published data from the London team, Ian, Chris and Sam, discuss the nuances of this procedure - the why, the when and the unexpected survivors observed within the Sydney study cohort.  Too, we discuss the use of ultrasound in this patient cohort and the importance of the 'everything else' beyond the procedure itself.  A reference of the full text is below, and as ever please do share with your peers and network.  Chat soon.   Ennis C, Tant J, Burns B, Oliver H, Ostrowski K, Oliver M, Kruit N, Ferguson I. Pre-Hospital Resuscitative Thoracotomy Performed in New South Wales, Australia: A Case-Series. Emerg Med Australas. 2025 Dec;37(6):e70186. doi: 10.1111/1742-6723.70186. PMID: 41362072.

    57 min
See All (27)

Ratings & Reviews

4.4
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

The Pre-Hospital & Retrieval Medicine Team of NSW Ambulance

Information

  • Creator
    Sydney HEMS Team
  • Years Active
    2013 - 2026
  • Episodes
    27
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Greater Sydney Area HEMS

You Might Also Like