Welcome to Best of 2025, Part 2. This collection of episodes reflects some of the most meaningful, challenging, and quietly powerful conversations of the year, the ones that sit at the intersection of clinical excellence, emotional labour, and human experience.

We begin with After Death: Understanding Grief in Pre-Hospital Care with Liz Gleeson, Part 2. This episode gave language to something many clinicians carry but rarely articulate: the weight of loss, the presence we hold for families after life has ended, and the cumulative impact that grief has on those working on the frontline. It was a reminder that what happens after death matters just as much as the care delivered before it.

From there, we move into one of the most high-stakes scenarios in medicine with Paediatric Cardiac Arrest featuring Paul Banerjee, Paediatric Series Part 3. This conversation explored not only the clinical complexities and time-critical decision-making involved, but also the emotional intensity of managing cardiac arrest in children, and the importance of preparation, teamwork, and reflection in some of the most difficult calls we face.

The focus then shifts to leadership, representation, and culture with Women in Critical Care: The Journey, Challenges, and Successes in HEMS with Sophie MacDougall, GWAAC Series Part 2. This episode highlighted the realities of working in high-performance, high-pressure environments, the barriers that still exist, and the progress being made. It was an honest and necessary discussion about inclusion, mentorship, and what strong, compassionate leadership looks like in modern critical care.

We then turn to one of the most urgent issues facing pre-hospital services with Suicide Prevention on the Frontline, Mental Health Part 2. This episode addressed the role clinicians play not only in crisis intervention, but in recognising risk, having difficult conversations, and understanding our own emotional responses. It reinforced the idea that suicide prevention is not confined to mental health services; it is part of everyday frontline care.

We close Part 2 with Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection: The Condition We Often Miss. This conversation challenged assumptions, highlighted diagnostic blind spots, and reminded us that not all chest pain fits the patterns we expect. It was a powerful example of how listening carefully, maintaining curiosity, and questioning heuristics can directly change patient outcomes.

Taken together, these episodes reflect the depth and diversity of modern pre-hospital and emergency care, from grief to resuscitation, from equity and leadership to mental health and diagnostic precision. They are conversations that stayed with many of you long after the episode ended. Thanks again to PAX Bags, our long-term sponsor of the podcast. Best-in-class medical bags from PAX can be found here: https://www.pax-bags.com/en/

Mallory Millet (Encore)