We extend our special thanks to Grant du Plessis and Zelda Houlie for organising a fantastic CRASH meeting at Tygerberg Hospital following the congress, and for giving excellent presentations of progress so far (138 patients randomised). We are very grateful to have support from Harry Govender, Etienne Vermaak and Sarel Spies and the whole neurosurgery team, plus Jan Loots, Arkady Verkhovsky, Silvia Henry and the doctors and nurses in the resuscitation and trauma nursing team. We are excited about taking forward our plans for extending recruitment into the trauma unit and to working (even more closely!) with Zelda to minimise loss-to-follow up for all patients enrolled into the trial in Tygerberg.

Ethics Approval

• Flavio Nacul, Clínica São Vicente, Brazil

• Jan Pachl, Charles University Prague, Czech Republic
  

• Felipe Valdivia, Instituto de Neurocirugía "Dr Asenjo", Chile
  

• Lars Widdel Raaf, Clinica Alemana, Chile
  

• Chen Xinkang, Zhongshan City People's Hospital, China
  

• Cai Xiaodong, Sheng Zheng Second People's Hospital, China
  

• Oscar Palma Rodriguez, Hospital México, Costa Rica
  

• Miguel Chung Sang Wong, Hospital Militar De Guayaquil, Ecuador
  

• Rajesh Bhagchandani, Apex Hospital, India
  

• Vijaya Ushanath Sethurayar, Meenakshi

• Mission Hospital & Research Centre, India
  

• Ichwan Syaiful, Dr Cipto Mangunkusmo General Hospital
  

• Nyoman Golden, Sanglah General Hospital, Indonesia
  

• Maria Giuseppina Annetta, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy
  

• Charles Seah, Changi General Hospital, Singapore
  

• Tang Kok Kee, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore
  

• Karol Kalig, NsP Ruzinov, Slovakia
  

• Maria Cifranicova, NsP Trebisov, Slovakia
  

• Beata Sániová, Jessenius Medical Faculty Hospital, Slovakia
  

• Titus Odedun, Ormskirk and District General Hospital, UK
  

• Rowland Cottingham, Royal Sussex County Hospital, UK
  

First patient

• Keith Hickling, Gold Coast Hospital, Australia

• Ernesto Miguel Piferrer Ruiz, Hospital Clínico-Quirúrgico Docente “Saturnino Lora”, Cuba

• Mathias Kalkum, Kreiskrankenhaus
  Tirschenreuth, Germany

• George Nakos, University Hospital of Ioannina, Greece

• José Luis Mejía González, Hospital Regional Numero 1, Queretaro, Mexico

• Josef Firment, FNsP Kosice, Slovakia

• Maite Misis, Hospital Universitario Germans Trias i Pujol, Spain

• Juan Nava and Manuel Alfarez, Hospital Mútua de Terrassa, Spain
  

10 patients

• Luiz Antonio Nasi, Hospital de Pronto Socorro de Porto Alegre, Brazil (25 patients in their first two months)

• James Siah Heng Tan, National
  Neuroscience Institute, Singapore

• Michael Gaab, Ernst Moritz Arndt University, Germany

• Julia Harris, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, UK

• Hana Andrejsova, Charles University Hospital Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic

• Amanda Morris and Jane Thompson, Medway Maritime Hospital, UK
  

Cochrane Library access to high recruiters

Those collaborators who are steadily recruiting new patients to the trial will benefit from this new venture. We are in the process of setting up a web-page via the CRASH website for you to access the Cochrane Library database free of charge. This service is normally only available via a subscription. As soon as you have recruited 25 patients into the trial, we will give you a password to access this worldwide service.

Sending data by email

It is now possible to send both your Patient Entry forms* and Early Outcome Forms electronically as a password protected email attachment. This should make sending patient data much easier for you and is by far the quickest and simplest method for us to receive and enter the data. If you would like to try this out, please email us and we will send you the forms and instructions for password protection by return.

(* for centres using paper randomisation)

We find out that you have enrolled a patient when you fax or email us the patient entry form. We enter the patient into the database and the database then calculates your remaining drug stock. When you have reached your minimum stock level we will send you more treatment packs. It is vital that we know on a daily basis how many patients you have enrolled. That way you will not run out of treatment drugs and will be able to include every eligible patient.

Nin Ritchie, MRC CRASH Trial Manager

CRASH Co-ordinating Centre, LSHTM. 49-51 Bedford Square, LONDON WC1B 3DP

Tel +44(0)20 7299 4684 Fax +44(0)20 7299 4663 email CRASH@LSHTM.AC.UK