The group of front-line staff who have contributed to ‘Pain: an ambulance perspective’ were presented with their own copies on Wednesday and guests also heard about how pain management for patients was an area that needed more focus in the ambulance care arena.

Edited by clinical managers Tracy Nicholls and Lucas Hawkes-Frost, the book is the first of its kind covering areas such as assessing and measuring pain, medication, children and pain, and pain relief in the elderly.

Every clinical member of staff in the region will receive a book and publishers Class Publishing will be selling the book to all good bookshops and online book suppliers.

via Bedfordshire Local News.

Buy it now from Amazon UK -

Pain: An Ambulance Perspective

The Lancet research found that a large difference could mean an increased risk of vascular disease and death.

Although existing guidelines state that blood pressure should be measured in both arms, it is not often done.

But a heart charity said it was too early to judge the findings.

The arm with the higher pressure can vary between individuals, but it is the difference between arms that counts, the study suggests.

via BBC News

The British Lung Foundation Wales said patients with conditions like emphysema needed to be helped earlier.

Its chairman warned that figures could rise for years as more people who smoked 20 years ago – when smoking was at a peak – become ill.

via BBC News.

US-based scientists found that the last four pandemics all occurred after La Nina events, which bring cool waters to the surface of the eastern Pacific.

In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), they say that flu-carrying birds may change migratory patterns during La Nina conditions.

However, many other La Nina events have not seen novel flu strains spread around the world, they caution.

via BBC News

The crew heard a “Pop, pop, pop” nearby, and knew it wasn’t just a car backfiring. The dispatch was for “someone shot,” and they were two blocks away. Law enforcement worked quickly to secure the area, and asked that EMS approach quickly. A young man was on the ground, unconscious. He was warm. There was no blood. A rapid assessment found multiple wounds in his chest, and he would respond to painful stimuli. He had a weak pulse, and agonal respirations.

Read more at EMS1.com.

A study of 1,985 adult heart attack survivors showed that after a significant person’s death, heart attack risks:

–  Increased to 21 times higher than normal within the first day.

–  Were almost six times higher than normal within the first week.

–  Continued to decline steadily over the first month.

“Caretakers, healthcare providers, and the bereaved themselves need to recognize they are in a period of heightened risk in the days and weeks after hearing of someone close dying,” said Murray Mittleman, M.D., Dr.P.H., a preventive cardiologist and epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and School of Public Health’s epidemiology department in Boston, Mass.

Read more news and case studies at JEMS.com.

A study published Monday adds to the evidence, finding a modest risk among older women who used a variety of statins.

It’s a puzzling link, and specialists say people who most need statins because of a high risk for a heart attack should stick with the drugs.

“What I fear here is that people who need and will benefit from statins will be scared off of using the drugs because of reports like this,” says Dr. Steven Nissen, cardiology chairman at the Cleveland Clinic, who wasn’t involved with the research. “We don’t want these drugs in the water supply, but we want the right people treated. When they are, this effect is not a significant limitation.”

Case studies, USA news and more from EMS1.com.

An analysis of more than 100,000 patients, published in Archives of Internal Medicine, concluded the risk of internal bleeding was too high.

The UK-led study said only people with a history of heart problems or stroke should take the tablets.

Experts said any decision should be made with a doctor.

Aspirin helps people who have had a heart attack or stroke. It prevents blood clots from forming by preventing cells, known as platelets, from sticking together. By reducing the number of clots formed, the tablets reduce the risk of another heart attack or stroke.

via BBC News.

The £130 Lifestyle Connect gadget, which is able to monitor heart rates and glucose levels and can even tell when its wearer has fallen over, was launched at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas

via This is London.

The drug is the first to be approved under the Government’s new ‘medicines innovation scheme,’ designed to speed up the adoption of promising medication for use in the NHS.

Ambulance crews working in the south-west of England already have access to TXA as part of a trial. The decision by the Department of Health means it will now be rolled out across the NHS starting this month.

The move comes after an international study suggested that the drug could save almost 300 lives a year if it was licensed for civilian use in Britain.

read the full article at - The Independent.