ABSTRACT
Procedures form an important part of emergency medicine practice and are often tested in the MCEM and FCEM OSCEs. Some procedures that we must be able to perform are rarely encountered in working practice but are lifesaving when applied, such as pericardiocentesis. Others are the ‘bread and butter’ of the daily job, such as male urethral catheterization. Regardless, the examiners want to see that you know how to perform the procedure safely with an accepted methodology. This chapter suggests approaches to those procedures most commonly examined in the OSCE stations. It is not an exhaustive list, and you are referred to the CEM curriculum for detail of all the procedures you are required to know. Many commonly performed procedures, for example applying a backslab plaster of Paris or application of a splint, are much more readily learned from an experienced plaster technician or nurse in the emergency department, and written instructions, being of limited value, are not included here. Other procedures, such as procedural sedation, vary considerably between departments and practitioners alike, and we recommend that you consult local policy as an example of good practice to use if asked in an examination.
