Blog

Perhaps never explained so clearly, Cisewki and Alerhand’s article on EPSS is a wonderful read. Bottom line to remember: EPSS > 7 mm was 87% sensitive and 75% specific at identifying reduced EF (<50%).  This is the cutoff generally used to point to an abnormal EF (but isn’t it all about stroke volume, really?)Read more

Neonatal Resuscitation. (Some descriptors for reference: Terrifying. Scary. Fear-inducing. Horrific. Chilling.) But fear not! Your TR pearl today is brought to you by the NICU rotation + Jillian Nickerson/T.Webb doing some excellent preparatory work for/with you. So there’s this thing called the NRP — Neonatal Resuscitation Program. It different from PALS mainly that it pertainsRead more

So you’re in the ED and a G9P8 patient at 40w2d rolls in with contractions every 3 minutes. Before sending the patient upstairs you do a brief examination and you see this…   You deliver the baby flawlessly and even protect the perineum like a pro; however, the baby is quickly followed by the placentaRead more

Needle, wire, nick, dilate, catheter. Sounds simple right? However, simple doesn’t always mean easy. Placing a central line on a mannequin can be much easier than the 250lb ESRD patient with peripheral vascular disease and a MAP of 50. Below are ten tips to help assist with successful line placement:   1) Manipulate the syringeRead more

Cardiac pacing as an intervention can be conceptualized as addressing problems in electrophysiological conduction and/or.  So, for example, if there is a disruption in the electrical continuity between the atrium and the ventricle, a pacer maybe function by detecting a normal sinus impulse in the atrium (there is typically a right atrial lead connected toRead more

There have been a few cases of supra-therapeutic INR in the Sinai ED recently, and at the request of one of our superstar interns, below you will find a brief set of recommendations regarding Supratherapeutic INR. The following bolded recommendations are for your patients who have no clinically significant bleeding: (These are recommendations based on AmericanRead more

During a busy day in the ED, it becomes apparent that the pulling and yanking on your patient’s shoulder has done absolutely nothing to reduce their shoulder. You perform your pre-procedure PSA Checklist, know that this young and active 18 year old poses little difficulty, and push your desired dose of ketamine. Suddenly, you notice theRead more

You’re working in RESUS, and you get a notification for hypotension. He’s a 65 year old male noted to be hypotensive to 70/40 by EMS. On arrival, he’s altered and unable to provide any history, and EMS doesn’t have much more information. You don’t see any signs of trauma. Your attending suggests performing a RUSHRead more

Bottom line up front: (1) Intubating those with TBI or spontaneous ICH is dangerous. You want to prevent increased ICP that is caused by laryngoscopy. (2) Pre-treat with fentanyl if time and the pt’s BP allow. The dose of fentanyl is larger than we are used to, dose 3 mcg/kg (or ~150-200mcg). (3) It isRead more

Question – How safe is mechanical CPR compared to manual CPR? There are two devices used for mechanical CPR – the AutoPulse and LUCAS – neither of which has been demonstrated to show a survival benefit over manual CPR in recent studies (CIRC, LINC, PARAMEDIC). Could these devices be causing more injuries compared to manualRead more