Neurosurgical emergencies often progress rapidly hence emergency management is essential to minimize further neurological damage. The brain can be injured in many ways, the most common being through direct traumatic brain injury. In the Western world, the most common mechanisms of these injuries are road traffic collisions, falls from height, and assaults. Ischaemic injury through embolic stroke or haemorrhagic injury from ruptured vascular malformations (e.g. cerebral aneurysms) are also common causes of neurosurgical emergencies. Acute hydrocephalus and infection problems (e.g. abscesses) are other conditions where prompt intervention is required. Similarly, acute spinal injuries can be traumatic, compressive, and infective 1).