Clinical Updates: December 2025

Your monthly clinical update from James Oswald (Clinical Practice Guideline Specialist) and A/Prof Ben Meadley (Director of Paramedicine). Hear from Louise Reynolds (Victoria’s Chief Paramedic Officer) on the women’s pain inquiry findings—and what it means for paramedic practice. Spotlight the VVED back pain pathway: for many patients, opioids + ED isn’t the answer—community physio support can be surprisingly effective. Adam Ho (AV Senior Pharmacist) answers the most common medication questions. Paper of the Month: a must-read on post-intubation hypotension. Ben runs through key professional development opportunities for 2025 and what’s coming in 2026. Equipment update. And we wrap with small steps to transform your practice Further resources VVED Back pain pathway presentation (AV employees only): https://engage.cloud.microsoft/main/threads/eyJfdHlwZSI6IlRocmVhZCIsImlkIjoiMzU5OTQ5NzU4NzMzNTE2OCJ9?trk_copy_link=V1 AI Professional Development Courses Free micro-skill course in AI: https://www.australianindustrygroup.com.au/education-training/centre-for-education-and-training/blog/free-introduction-to-artificial-intelligence-microskill-course Digital health 101: https://digitalhealthworkforce.org.au/education-and-resources/ Australian Institute of Digital Health AI essentials: https://cpd.digitalhealth.org.au/course/ai-essentials AI Podcasts NEJM AI Grand rounds (AI Podcast): https://store.nejm.org/signup/ai/podcasts Beyond the prompt (AI podcast): https://www.beyondtheprompt.ai/ Paper of the month Prehospital Postintubation Hypotension and Survival in Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2841682 Ketamine or Etomidate for Tracheal Intubation of Critically Ill Adults: https://www.nejm.org/doi/abs/10.1056/NEJMoa2511420 Get in touch [email protected] X / Twitter James: ⁠⁠⁠@JamesOz1⁠⁠ Ben: ⁠@ben_meadley⁠ Linkedin James Ben Producer: Liam Hennebry