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 representation and the impact it has on resus performance. The next paper is a practice review of functional neurological disorder (FND), highlighting the poor diagnosis rate and history keeping for this condition, as well as offering ways to communicate with patients. There's also a paper on the dilemma of febrile infants with concurrent viral and bacterial infections, and another on aeromedical service sedation protocols in the Australian Outback.

Read the highlights: November 2025 primary survey

• We need to talk about Annie
• Diversity of CPR manikins for basic life support education: use of manikin sex, race and body shape — a scoping review
• Recognising and managing functional neurological disorder in the acute healthcare setting
• Prevalence of serious bacterial infections and performance of inflammatory markers in febrile infants with and without proven viral illness
• Risk of complications using a sedation protocol for aeromedical retrieval of acutely unwell mental health patients: a retrospective cohort study in Outback Australia

The EMJ podcast is hosted by:

Prof. Richard Body, EMJ Deputy Editor, University of Manchester, UK (@richardbody) Dr. Sarah Edwards, EMJ Senior Associate Editor and Social Media Editor, Royal Derby Hospital, UK (@drsarahedwards)

You can subscribe to the EMJ podcast on all podcast platforms to get the latest podcast every month. If you enjoy our podcast, please consider leaving us a review or a comment on the EMJ Podcast Apple (https://apple.co/4bfcMU0) or Spotify (https://spoti.fi/3ufutSL) page.

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 inside the ED bubble. One of the recurring sources of uncertainty for patients is the question, “How long until I’m seen, doc?”, and there’s a paper following up on that issue with a personalised approach. A framework that has been employed by NHS England, aimed at dealing with the problem, is Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC). The next paper finds there is a limited evidence on the impact of SDECs, as well as confusion around their definition. Another paper on the subject of patient flow shows that while digital solutions are promising, you can’t replace a streaming nurse for critical decisions. To finish the episode is a 10-year retrospective review on the use of blood in paediatric trauma, drawing on the data of the Trauma Audit Research Network.

Read the highlights: October 2025 primary survey

• Whose turn is it?
• Poetry: the art of expression
• “How long until I am seen, doc?” Modelling paediatric emergency department waiting times to make personalised predictions
• Impact of same day emergency care services on urgent and emergency care delivery outcomes: a systematic review
• Blood product use in paediatric trauma: lessons from the TARN data

The EMJ podcast is hosted by:

Prof. Richard Body, EMJ Deputy Editor, University of Manchester, UK (@richardbody) Dr. Sarah Edwards, EMJ Senior Associate Editor and Social Media Editor, Royal Derby Hospital, UK (@drsarahedwards)

You can subscribe to the EMJ podcast on all podcast platforms to get the latest podcast every month. If you enjoy our podcast, please consider leaving us a review or a comment on the EMJ Podcast Apple (https://apple.co/4bfcMU0) or Spotify (https://spoti.fi/3ufutSL) page.

"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 departments finds, approaches to these conversations can be quite different globally. This episode also features another angle on end-of-life care, highlighting the persistent impact that deprivation has when it comes to likelihood of hospital conveyance. On a different subject, there is a qualitative study of the management of acute asthma presentations, seeking to find any marginal gains that may present a chance for optimisation. The fourth and final paper is about acute coronary syndromes in the emergency department, presenting some surprising statistics on length of stay.

Read the highlights: September 2025 primary survey

• Deprivation is associated with hospital conveyance among patients who are terminally ill
• Are acute asthma presentations to the emergency department an opportunity for optimising long-term management? A qualitative study on beliefs and behaviours of healthcare professionals
• Comparing approaches to code status conversations between Thai and American emergency clinicians: a survey study
• Acute coronary syndrome rule-out strategies in the emergency department: an observational evaluation of clinical effectiveness and current UK practice

The EMJ podcast is hosted by:

Prof. Richard Body, EMJ Deputy Editor, University of Manchester, UK (@richardbody) Dr. Sarah Edwards, EMJ Senior Associate Editor and Social Media Editor, Royal Derby Hospital, UK (@drsarahedwards)

You can subscribe to the EMJ podcast on all podcast platforms to get the latest podcast every month. If you enjoy our podcast, please consider leaving us a review or a comment on the EMJ Podcast Apple (https://apple.co/4bfcMU0) or Spotify (https://spoti.fi/3ufutSL) page.