Treatment patterns and frequency of key outcomes in acute severe asthma in children: a Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative (PREDICT) multicentre cohort study.

Rationale: Severe acute paediatric asthma may require treatment escalation beyond systemic corticosteroids, inhaled bronchodilators and low-flow oxygen. Current large asthma datasets report parenteral therapy only.

Objectives: To identify the use and type of escalation of treatment in children presenting to hospital with acute severe asthma.

The impact of social media on a major international emergency medicine conference.

Objective: To report on the presence and use of social media by speakers and attendees at the International Conference on Emergency Medicine (ICEM) 2012, and describe the increasing use of online technologies such as Twitter and podcasts in publicising conferences and sharing research findings, and for clinical teaching.

Methods: Speakers were identified through the organising committee and a database constructed using the internet to determine the presence and activity of speakers on social media platforms. We also examined the use of Twitter by attendees and non-attendees using an online archiving system.

Towards evidence-based emergency medicine: best BETs from the Manchester Royal Infirmary. BET 2: Dexamethasone for reduction of migraine recurrence.

A short-cut review was carried out to establish whether the administration of dexamethasone reduced the risk of recurrence of migraine headaches at 24 h. Three hundred and fifteen articles were found using the reported search including two systematic reviews and meta-analyses. A total of nine trials was included between the two meta-analyses.

Hypothermia is a significant medical risk of mass participation long-distance open water swimming.

Objective: To document the prevalence of hypothermia in a mass participation endurance open water swimming event and to determine demographic and individual factors that may predict failure to finish the race and hypothermia.

Methods: A prospective observational study in competitors in a 19.2-km open water swimming race in Perth, Western Australia.

Tympanic thermometry is unsuitable as a screening tool for hypothermia after open water swimming.

Objective: Mass participation in competitive open water swimming is becoming increasingly popular. The purpose of this study was to determine whether infrared emission detection (IRED) tympanic temperature measurement taken in participants approximately 1 minute following a long-distance open water swimming event is a suitable screening tool for hypothermia.

Methods: We studied 15 males and 7 females who completed the 20-km Rottnest Channel Swim off the coast of Perth, Western Australia.