In Namur, Belgium - Guy Mazairac got off to a speedy start with recruitment. After getting his first box of treatment packs on Christmas eve, he randomised the first Belgian patient on the 30^th December. He is now well into his second box and is also encouraging his emergency care colleagues to get involved in the trial as well. 

Sri Lanka also got off to a tremendous start in the New Year with Véronique Laloe randomising the first patient in to the trial on the 2^nd January 2000. A second hospital in Sri Lanka – the National Hospital in Colombo will be starting recruitment soon. Thanks to Sunil Perera, consultant neurosurgeon at the National Hospital in Colombo for getting the trial ready to go. 

Trial recruitment is going very well in Durban, South Africa. Many thanks to Naren Nathoo, consultant neurosurgeon at Wentworth Hospital for his work. 

And, congratulations to Patrick Plunkett and Geraldine MacMahon at St. James Hospital in Dublin, Ireland - the most recent international centre to start randomisation!

Randomisation of patients in the UK hit a high over the holiday period with three times as many patients being randomised during this period compared with other times of the year. 

Fax randomisation during the telephone randomisation ‘millennium shut-down’ worked smoothly – and the FREEPHONE randomisation service is now up and running without any glitches thanks to Hugh Bettesworth, the programmer for the CRASH trial at CTSU.

New centres that have started to recruit patients recently include Alison Pickford & Julie Nancarrow at Blackburn Royal Infirmary; Ian Stell & Maureen Clarke at Bromley Hospital; Lawrence Jaffey & Michael Graves at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital. All three centres have now randomised their first patient. The most recent centre to start recruitment is the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham - Sister Debbie Ford and consultant neurosurgeon Jonathan Wasserberg taking the lead at QEH. 

Thanks to Sister Gabby Lomas and all the enthusiastic nurses and doctors at Hope Hospital – the top UK recruiting centre with 43 randomised patients.

Pramod Luthra at the Royal Oldham Hospital is the newest centre to receive CRASH trial treatment packs – we look forward to recruitment starting soon.