Show Notes
Hello, and welcome back to the Sydney HEMS debrief podcast. Thank you for your patience – I have been taking the long way home from Canada, but am delighted to be back in Sydney and now ready to go with more episodes of our focused series on cardiac arrest. In this part one of two episodes, we are pivoting away from the technical towards human factors and team performance. In doing this, we are thrilled to be joined by Dr Mike Lauria. Mike is a human factors legend. Prior to becoming a Doctor, Mike served as an elite Pararescueman in the 321st Special Tactics Squadron during which time he won numerous service awards. Then, Mike became the lead instructor of a tactical training group before moving back to New Hampshire to work as a Critical Care and Flight paramedic. If that wasn’t enough, Mike then went to and graduated from Medical School before completing his residency in Emergency Medicine, as well as fellowships in EMS and Critical Care, at the University of New Mexico Health Science Center. Currently, Mike works as an attending critical care and EMS physician at the University of Washington, and is the Associate Medical Director at Airlift Northwest. Suffice to say, Mike brings an exceptional wealth of experience and perspective on what constitutes a high performing team and a high performing individual, and the factors required to maintain operational momentum even during unfavourable circumstances. Nat and Mike discuss this and much more in what are two episodes full of absolute gold. I predict these episodes will become mandatory listening for human factors and team performance enthusiasts, and rightly so. Chat soon!
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More from Greater Sydney Area HEMS
G'day and welcome back. We are currently editing new episodes of the podcast, they will be coming out soon - episodes on brain injury associated shock, post-ROSC care and more. In the meantime, here is a re-post of an episode with the pre-hospital ECMO (Pre-Care) team in conversation with senior road paramedics. In this episode, the team discuss the challenges and successes of rolling out this trial in the Greater Sydney basin - but more crucially, also discuss the flow-on effect personalised resuscitation care has on 'standard' ALS care. This episode was very well received the first time around, and so we re-post it now as the technical learning points provided by the team also nicely summaries lots of the learning from subsequent episodes. Chat soon.
Welcome back! We are busy recording new episodes, in the meantime here is a re-post of an episode prior to our move to Spotify/podcasts with Emergency and Pre-Hospital Consultant Dr Ian Ferguson. Ian is the lead author on a published randomised control trial assessing the haemodynamic effects of adding fentanyl to an induction regime of ketamine and rocuronium for rapid sequence intubation in the emergency department. The FAKT study. This multicenter study conducted in New South Wales, Australia, has yielding some thought-provoking results, and may change your in- or out-of-hospital anaesthesia practice in future.
G'day, and welcome back. Pre-hospital clinicians are used to working under pressure. Teams work in often austere environments, with limited resources caring for some of the most severe patient pathologies at their most undifferentiated. Within all this, individuals and teams must perform at their peak. But this is easier said than done. So how, in this most niche of clinical areas, can an individual, a team and an organisation promote, harness and maintain peak performance? Dr Stephen Hearns is an Emergency and Pre-Hospital Physician from Glasgow, Scotland. Stephen has spent most of his career working out-of-hospital, both in the UK and around the world. Throughout, Stephen has reflected on his own journey of peak performance, and has dedicated more recent years to the study and deep dive into what contributes to an individual and team functioning most highly in the pre-hospital space. In this episode, we discuss Stephen's research and published work to inform this topic. Stephen has spent time with other peak-performing groups including but not limited to Armed Forces and sporting teams, and has developed a package of learning to inform daily optimal performance. We talk about communication strategies, cognitive aids, team selection and organisational leadership - all of which, and more, contribute to peak performance. This episode is a must-listen for all pre-hospital clinicians intent on optimising their attainment, that of the team and that of their organisation.
Hello and welcome back. This is part two of our chat with Dr Matt Hooper, continuing our conversation on emergency last aid. In this episode, we discuss the hows and whens involved when informing a family of their loved one's death, as well as the setting in which to do this. Too, we discuss the importance of maintaining space and safety for one's self and the team, and how a system can encourage psychological safety in this regard. As with part one, please ensure this episode is the right one for you - this is a challenging and emotionally-charged topic and whilst very important, please make sure it is the right episode at the right time for you. Chat soon.
G'day, and welcome back. In today's episode, we are delighted and privileged to be joined by South Australia's Dr Matt Hooper. The practice of medicine - including pre-hospital medicine - often focuses on life preservation. But, as acute care clinicians we often also find ourselves caring for patients at the end of their life. Too, we find ourselves caring for their relatives and loved ones, and the wider medical team. It can be really challenging to provide this care in such an acute, unexpected and unstable setting - so how do we do it, how do we stabilise the moment and continue to deliver compassionate care? This is the work of Dr Matt Hooper, who together with colleagues has created the 'emergency last aid' program - designed to teach the foundational skills needed to deliver compassionate end-of-life care in high-pressure environments. Drawing on his experience as a pre-hospital, intensive care and palliative care physician, Matt talks us through his approach to these challenging, rewarding circumstances. Before listening to this episode, please ensure it is the right episode for you: talking about death, dying and grief can be triggering for some, so please ensure that this episode is what you need, at the right time, and that you have support around you.