RCEM Clinical Guidance

RCEM Clinical Guidance

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) has clinical guidelines available for professionals working in emergency medicine.

RCEM Clinical Guidance
Clinical Guidance

RCEM Clinical Guidance

This section includes Clinical Guidance and Position Statements. A significant amount of the guidance on this page has been written by the various committee which make up the RCEM Quality in Emergency Care Committee (QECC), more information on the work of these committees and further specific resources can be found on the QECC section of RCEM website.
These committees include:
Best Practice Subcommittee, Quality Improvement & Assurance Subcommittee, Mental Health Subcommittee
Safer Care Subcommittee, Older Persons in Emergency Medicine SIG, Public Health SIG, Toxicology SIG, Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response PAG, Paediatric Emergency Care PAG, Pre-Hospital Emergency Medicine PAG.

To contact the RCEM quality team please email Quality@rcem.ac.uk

Clinical Guidance

+ Clinical Guidelines

Clinical Guidelines

Detection and Management of Non-Accidental Injury in Infants (October 2024)
Management of Pain in Adults – Best Practice Guideline (September 2024)
The Patient who Absconds – Best Practice Guideline (August 2024)
Acute Opioid Toxicity – Best Practice Guideline – Joint RCEM and NPIS publication – May 2024
Frequent Attendance in the Emergency Department: Delivering Interventions and Services for High Intensity Use – Best Practice Guideline (March 2024)
Management of Acute Presentations of Sickle Cell Disease in the Emergency Department – Best Practice Guideline (March 2024)
Screening in the Emergency Department – Best Practice Guideline (February 2024)
Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome – Best Practice Guideline (February 2024)
Diagnosis of Thoracic Aortic dissection in the Emergency Department – Best Practice Guideline (January 2024)
Invasive Procedures in the Emergency Department – Best Practice Guideline (October 2023)
Providing Patient Information in the Emergency Department – Best Practice Guideline (October 2023)
Acute Behavioural Disturbance in Emergency Departments – Best Practice Guideline (October 2023)
Suspected nitrous oxide toxicity in Emergency Departmenst – Best Practice Guideline – April 2023
Management of Adolescent/Young Adult Patients in the Emergency Department (May 2023)
Management of Investigation Results in the ED – Best Practice Guideline (February 2023)
Coronavirus Infection, Prevention and Control Guidance (October 2022)
Procedural Sedation in the Emergency Department – Best Practice Guideline (August 2022)
Discharge to General Practice – Best Practice Guideline (October 2022)
Management of Controlled Energy Device Attendances (Taser) – Best Practice Guideline – 2021
Emergency Department Care – Best Practice Guideline (November 2021)
Better Together: Collaborative Working Between Emergency and Critical Care – A framework for improved collaborative working between Emergency Medicine (EM) and Intensive Care Medicine (ICM) (July 2021)
Ingestion of Super Strong Magnets in Children – Best Practice Guideline (May 2021)
Security and Restraint in the ED (March 2021)
‘The Silver Book II’: Quality Care for Older People with Urgent and Emergency Care Needs (Intercollegiate, February 2021)
HIV Testing in the Emergency Department – Best Practice Guideline (revised December 2020)
Management of Suspected Internal Drug Trafficker (SIDT) – Best Practice Guideline (December 2020)
When a Colleague Dies (RCEM, November 2020)
Fascia Iliaca Block in the Emergency Department – Best Practice Guideline (revised July 2020)
Homelessness and Inclusion Health – Best Practice Guideline (April 2020)
Ketamine Procedural Sedation for Children in EDs – Best Practice Guideline (February 2020)
Side by side: A UK-wide consensus statement on working together to help patients with mental health needs in acute hospitals (February 2020)
Traumatic Cardiac Arrest in Adults – Best Practice Guideline (September 2019)
Drug Misuse and the Emergency Department – Best Practice Guideline (May 2019)
Emergency Department Out of Hours Discharge Medications – Best Practice Guideline (April 2019)
Management and Transfer of Patients with a Diagnosis of Ruptured Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm to a Specialist Vascular Centre – Best Practice Guideline (January 2019)
Consent in Adults, Adolescents and Children in Emergency Departments – Best Practice Guideline (Jan 2018)
A brief guide to Section 136 for Emergency Departments (Dec 2017)
Intravenous Regional Anaesthesia for Distal Forearm Fractures (Bier’s Block)- Best Practice Guideline (revised Nov 2017)
Information sharing to reduce Community Violence – Best Practice Guideline (Sept 2017)
Frequent Attenders in the ED – Best Practice Guideline (Aug 2017)
Management of Pain in Children – Best Practice Guideline (revised Jul 2017)
A universal FGM flowchart and reporting tool – Best Practice Guideline (Jun 2017)
The Mental Capacity Act in Emergency Medicine Practice – Best Practice Guideline (Feb 2017)
ED Patients in Police Custody – Best Practice Guideline (revised Jun 2016)
Reducing redundant activity in the acute setting – Best Practice Guideline (Dec 2015)
Management of Adult Patients who attend Emergency Departments after Sexual Assault and / or Rape – Best Practice Guideline (revised Oct 2015)
Management of Domestic Abuse – Best Practice Guideline (Mar 2015)
Chaperones in the Emergency Department – Best Practice Guideline (Mar 2015)
Safe Sedation in the Emergency Department – Report and Recommendations by RCOA and RCEM (Nov 2012)
Providing a witness statement for the Police – Best Practice Guideline (Feb 2012)

+ NPIS Antidotes

RCEM / NPIS Guideline on Antidote Availability for EDs (September 2023):

Regional Holding Centres for Category “C” Antidotes – September 2024
RCEM NPIS Antidote Guideline List – September 2023
RCEM NPIS Antidote Guideline Appendix 1 – September 2023

+ Guidelines for Adults

Adult Acute Severe Sore Throat Management Guidelines for Emergency Department Doctors (ENTUK, 2022)

+ Guidelines for Children

The management of children and young people with an acute decrease in conscious level (RCPCH, 2019)

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