EMJ Podcast

Access to helicopter emergency services is improving in the UK, a recent study shows. But what impact is that access having? There's a paper for that too, with this episode declaring: "Helicopters for the win!" There's...

This month we've got a few papers on dealing with smoking - and not smoking - in the emergency department. The episode starts off with a discussion of a paper on automating high-flow nasal oxygen, and the importance of...

What happens to an emergency department when staff go on strike? A new study published in EMJ examines this challenging scenario and its impact on patient flow. Another paper looks at the hybrid-warfare attack carried...

"Should we be giving blood transfusions to patients with traumatic cardiac arrest?" EMJ editor Prof. Richard Body and associate editor Dr. Sarah Edwards talk through some original research on the value of blood...

It's the first issue of 2026, and the first with new editor-in-chief Prof. Richard Body heading the journal. He is joined by senior associate editor Dr. Sarah Edwards, as they take a look at some highlights of the...

One thing you'll never hear in the emergency department is the sound of silence. And if the hubbub should start to lower, woe betide the ED staffer who dares to say, "it's looking quiet tonight." But should we really be...

Despite what the CPR doll might suggest, cardiac arrest patients are not always white, lean and male. So why is that the case for resuscitation training? The first paper in this episode addresses this lack of...

The atmosphere of the emergency department can be a hard thing to put into words, with intense emotions washing over patients and staff alike. This month we feature a poem, powerfully illustrating the drama and stress...

"What is your understanding of your father's illness?" This is the kind of question that may be posed by emergency clinicians in the context of end-of-life care. But as a survey of Thai and American emergency...

A new paper on the challenging diagnosis of acute appendicitis has us wondering, can it be spotted with just a glance? The reality is never so simple. This episode we also discuss low-value overtesting, cardiac arrest...

The NHS plans to set up mental health emergency departments throughout England. A survey discussed this episode highlights the importance of mental health assessments, finding that nearly a quarter of suicide deaths in...

Can salbutamol be used be used to relieve pain in renal colic patients? Starting off this month's episode, a randomised trial seeks to find the answer. Then a topic of interest for anyone seeing patients with a phobia...

A new survey has found that less than one third of end-of-life patients in Irish emergency departments have their own room. This is only one of the shortcomings found in end-of-life care, explored in two papers to start...

Trauma and paediatrics are the themes for this month's collection of papers. Starting off is a review of the effectiveness of prehospital ultrasound in detecting lung injury, with some surprising statistics. Next is a...

Advance clinical practitioners (ACPs) can have a big role to play in the emergency department, but their career paths are not always well understood. This episode features three papers from the journal which begin to...