First Critical Hours 2026

The First Critical Hours is an annual 3-day intensive course for emergency physicians and acute medicine specialists, delivered live online. Focused on the clinical management of patients presenting to the Emergency Department, the course provides a comprehensive update on evidence-based best practice and emerging issues in emergency and acute medicine.

The course features interactive online lectures followed by case scenarios, discussion, and live Q&A sessions with leading faculty consultants from major UK hospitals. Topics are carefully selected based on recent clinical impact, COVID-19 lessons learned, and feedback from practicing emergency medicine physicians. The programme covers high-frequency presentations (tachyarrhythmias, stroke/TIA, acute heart failure, sepsis/lactate, difficult airways, syncope), trauma management, respiratory emergencies, POCUS, paediatric and obstetric emergencies, procedural sedation, acute kidney injury, toxicology, chest pain, AI in the ED, vulnerable patient presentations, frailty, ENT emergencies, diabetic emergencies, dermatology, and major incident planning.

The faculty comprises experienced consultants and specialists in their fields from across UK and international institutions, bringing practitioner expertise directly to front-line clinicians. Each session typically lasts 45–50 minutes, with built-in breaks and flexibility to attend live or access the on-demand catch-up version later (available for 90 days with unlimited playback).

By the end of the course, attendees will have a comprehensive understanding of current evidence-based best practice in emergency and acute medicine, greater confidence in clinical practice, and clarity on any knowledge and skills gaps relevant to their own practice.

The course contributes to developing effective team management for doctors from diverse backgrounds actively delivering emergency and acute care. All sessions are hosted on Webex or Teams with full technical support provided by email, chat, and telephone. A catch-up recording becomes available approximately 3 working days after the live sessions conclude, and a CPD certificate with 18 CPD points is issued on submission of the post-course feedback form.