You are on a flight, halfway across the Atlantic Ocean at the start of a much needed vacation, binge watching that new show everyone has been talking about but you’ve never had time to see. Suddenly, the screen freezes and an overhead anno…
Your patient with a newly diagnosed PE hates hospitals. He or she agrees to defer to your judgement about admission versus discharge home, but makes it clear they would prefer to go home if it is safe. Which tool should you use to…
We give out canes like they’re candy. But are we doing a good job adjusting the cane and teaching patients how to use them? Canes that are not the right height for your patient or are being used incorrectly can put patients at an even gre…
A patient comes to the emergency department reporting a few days of excruciating pain in a band around his right chest. Today, he developed vesicles over the same area which prompted him to come in. Classic shingles. Like most patients d…
You are the leader of the code team. Your patient is in refractory VF after multiple rounds of shocks and drugs. You’ve tried repositioning the pads into an anterior-posterior position. Looking around, you ask for suggestions. So…
It’s 1 am and things are winding down. The trickle of patients has slowed and it actually looks like you and your team are catching up. Suddenly, you hear yelling, swearing and crashes coming from triage. Other patients are lookin…
Ah, cold and flu season. It’s that joyous time of year when our department is flooded with miserable people complaining of sinus headaches, rhinorrhea and feeling terrible. We all know that for most viruses, symptomatic care is the way to…
Penicillin allergy is a common finding in many patient charts. Sometimes it can be difficult to figure out who, when and why this label was added to a medical record. Sometimes patients themselves perpetuate the label, unwittingly…
We all prescribe antibiotics frequently. While the debate about who is contributing more to the terrifying antibiotic resistance patterns and the emergence of superbugs rages on, we can sometimes forget or minimize the fact that antibiotic…
For many of our patients, frequent UTIs can be a big source of discomfort and frequent ED or PMD visits. Women, in particular, are impacted by this issue as they have >50% lifetime risk of acute cystitis. Many are treated with a…
Just kidding. Happy Holidays, kids. Follow Santa on his magical trek around the world: https://santatracker.google.com/village.html Bonus: Want to know more about the Dreidel? https://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/article_…
The practice of using EMLA or LET cream on a wound that is about to be cleansed, explored and sutured is common, especially in the PEDs world. However, both of these options take time to work, which can be a significant barrier to use duri…
An otherwise healthy 11 year old boy is brought to the ED by his parent after “hitting his head pretty hard” during hockey practice. The child was “out of it” for a little while but did not lose consciousness. He seems foggy, complains of…
It’s a busy Monday afternoon. Patients are packed into the department like sardines. You have bruises on your shins from trying to wade through the stretchers to discharge a few people, but now you’re back at the computer ready to pick up…
Imagine your patient is minding his or her own business when their foot gets crushed by a bus. This totally hypothetical occurrence is only one of an infinite number of examples of situations that could result in a complex wound(s) needing…
