CEC - External Guidelines

Below is a list of clinical guidelines relevant to Emergency Medicine produced by external organisations. Some non-clinical guidelines are also listed at the bottom of the page. New publications are highlighted in yellow.

This page has been reviewed and updated by the CEC Best Practice subcommittee in November 2009. Please report any dead links to philip.mcmillan@collemergencymed.ac.uk.

Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC)

• Diagnosis of death: A code of practice for the diagnosis and confirmation of death (Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, 2008) (CEM summary)

• Managing Urgent Mental Health Needs in the Acute Trust (AoMRC, 2008)

American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP)

• Blunt abdominal trauma: Clinical Policy: Critical Issues in the Evaluation of Adult Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department With Acute Blunt Abdominal Trauma (American College of Emergency Physicians, 2003)

• Deep Venous Thrombosis: Clinical Policy: Critical Issues in the Evaluation and Management of Adult Patients Presenting With Suspected Lower-Extremity Deep Venous Thrombosis (American College of Emergency Physicians, 2003)

• Pulmonary Embolism: Clinical Policy: Critical Issues in the Evaluation and Management of Adult Patients Presenting With Suspected Pulmonary Embolism (American College of Emergency Physicians, 2002)

• Procedural Sedation: Clinical Policy: Procedural Sedation and Analgesia in the Emergency Department (American College of Emergency Physicians, 2005)

• Seizure: Clinical Policy: Critical Issues in the Evaluation and Management of Adult Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department With Seizures (American College of Emergency Physicians, 2004)

• Syncope: Clinical Policy: Critical Issues in the Evaluation and Management of Adult Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department with Syncope (American College of Emergency Physicians, 2007)

Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland (AAGBI)

• Local Anaesthetic Toxicity: Management of Severe Local Anaesthetic Toxicity (Assoc. of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland, 2010)

• Pre-hospital Anaesthesia (Assoc. of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland, 2008)

British Thoracic Society (BTS)

• Asthma: British Guideline on the Management of Asthma (The British Thoracic Society / Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network, 2009)

• Emergency Oxygen Use in Adult Patients (The British Thoracic Society, 2008)

• Pneumonia: Guidelines for the Management of Community Acquired Pneumonia in Adults (The British Thoracic Society, updated 2009)

• Pneumothorax: Guidelines for the Management of Spontaneous Pneumothorax (The British Thoracic Society, 2003)

• Pulmonary Embolism: Guidelines for the Management of Suspected Acute Pulmonary Embolism (The British Thoracic Society, 2003)

Department of Health (England)

• Flu Pandemic (Department of Health, 2009) - See here for more advice about Flu.

European Society of Cardiology (ESC)

• Acute Coronary Syndromes in patients presenting without ST-segment elevation (Management of) (European Society of Cardiology, 2007) View Details

• Acute Heart Failure: ESC Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic heart failure (European Society of Cardiology, 2008) View Details

• Acute Myocardial Infarction in patients presenting with ST-segment elevation (Management of) (European Society of Cardiology, 2008) View Details

• Acute Pulmonary Embolism (Diagnosis and Management of) (European Society of Cardiology, 2008) View Details

• Aortic Dissection (Diagnosis and Management of) (European Society of Cardiology, 2001) View Details

• Syncope (Guidelines on Diagnosis and Treatment of) (European Society of Cardiology, 2009) View Details

General Medical Council (GMC)

• Treatment and care towards the end of life: good practice in decision making (GMC, 2010)

Health Protection Agency (HPA)

• Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Algorithm (Health Protection Agency, 2009) View Details

Health Protection Scotland

• Interim Clinical Guidance for the Management of Suspected Anthrax in Drug Users (Health Protection Scotland, 2010)

Meningitis Research Foundation

• Meningitis - early management of meningococcal disease in children (Meningitis Research Foundation, 2006) (this is an expert opinion based algorithm which reflects best current practice – it is very useful and helpful) View Details

• Meningitis - early management of suspected bacterial meningitis and meningococcal and septicaemia in immunocompetent adults (Meningitis Research Foundation, 2006) View Details

National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)

• Acutely ill patients in hospital (NICE CG50, July 2007)

• Alcohol-use disorders: physical complications (NICE CG100, June 2010). See also NICE Public health guidance Alcohol-use disorders: preventing harmful drinking (NICE PH24, June 2010)

• Atrial Fibrillation: The management of atrial fibrillation (NICE CG36, June 2006)

• Chest pain of recent onset: assessment and diagnosis of recent onset chest pain or discomfort of suspected cardiac origin (NICE CG95, March 2010)

• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in adults in primary and secondary care (NICE CG12, February 2004) UPDATE  (NICE CG101, June 2010 - partially replaces CG12) 

• Deliberate Self-Harm: Self-harm: The short-term physical and psychological management and secondary prevention of self-harm in primary and secondary care (NICE CG16, July 2004)

• Delirium: diagnosis, prevention and management (NICE CG103, July 2010)

• Diarrhoea and vomiting in children under 5. Management of acute diarrhoea and vomiting due to gastoenteritis in children under 5 (NICE CG84, April 2009)

• Disturbed behaviour. Violence: The short-term management of disturbed/violent behaviour in in-patient psychiatric settings and emergency departments (NICE CG25, February 2005)

• Falls: the assessment and prevention of falls in older people (NICE CG21, November 2004)

• Feverish illness in Children (NICE CG47, May 2007)

• Head injury: Triage, assessment, investigation and early management of head injury in infants, children and adults (NICE CG56, September 2007)

• Hypertension: management of hypertension in adults in primary care (NICE CG34, June 2006)

• Low Back Pain: Early management of persistent non-specific low back pain (NICE CG88, May 2009)

• Meningitis in children: Bacterial meningitis and meningococcal septicaemia (NICE CG102, June 2010)

• Neonatal Jaundice (NICE CG98, May 2010)

• Post-traumatic stress disorder: The management of PTSD in adults and children in primary and secondary care (NICE CG26, March 2005)

• Stroke/TIA: Diagnosis and initial management of acute stroke and transient ischaemic attack (TIA) (NICE CG68, July 2008)

• Thrombolysis drugs: The clinical effectiveness and cost effectiveness of drugs for early thrombolysis in the treatment of acute myocardial infarction (NICE TA52, 2002)

• Unstable angina and NSTEMI: the early management of unstable angina and non-ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (NICE CG94, March 2010)

• Urinary tract infection in children: diagnosis, treatment and long-term management (NICE CG54, August 2007)

• Venous thromboembolism - Reducing the risk of venous thromboembolism (deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism) in patients admitted to hospital (NICE CG92, January 2010) For CEM response see here

• When to suspect child mistreatment (NICE, CG89, July 2009) View Details

Royal College of Physicians of London

• Advance care planning - National Guidelines (Royal College of Physicans, 2009). View Details

Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN)

• Asthma: British Guideline on the Management of Asthma (The British Thoracic Society / Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network, 2009)

• Management of acute upper and lower gastrointestinal bleeding (Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network, 2008)

Other Organisations

• Airway Management: Emergency Airway Management in the Trauma Patient (NSW Institute of Trauma and Injury Management, 2008) View Details

• Alcohol: Paddington Alcohol Test - this is not a clinical guideline but a clinical and therapeutic tool to ‘make the connection’ between Emergency Department (ED) attendance and drinking alcohol (Imperial Healthcare NHS Trust, 2009)

• Cervical Spine (Dr Siong-Seng Liau, 2003)

• Diabetic foot disease: Putting feet first: Commissioning specialist services for the management and prevention of diabetic foot disease in hospitals (Diabetes UK, July 2009)

• Haemophilia: Guideline on the selection and use of theraputic products to treat haemophilia and other hereditary bleeding disorders (United Kingdom Haemophilia Centre Doctors' Organisation (UKHCDO), 2008)

• Open fractures of the lower limb: Standards for the management of open fractures of the lower limb (British Association of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons, Sep 2009)

• Sepsis: Surviving Sepsis Campaign (Survive Sepsis, 2009). See here for CEM clinical standards for sepsis and additional resources

• Supraventricular Arrhythmias (Guidelines for the Management of Patients with) (American Heart Association, 2003)

• Swine Influenza (Various, 2009)

 Non-Clinical Guidelines:

• Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (2001)

• Confidentiality - Guidance for Doctors (GMC, 2009)