An in-depth analysis of current topics in Emergency Medicine and Critical Care Medicine typically based upon our regular EM-CCM conference.
A 52-year-old man with diabetes, hypertension, end-stage renal disease on dialysis, and CAD presents to the ED with sudden onset of shortness of breath. He endorses missing his last dialysis session because he left the country for a week and was forced to pay for his last session out-of-pocket in Read more…
They were fine yesterday, now they’re drowning! “Flash” (acute) pulmonary edema is a common critical condition in the emergency department, and it can have multiple precipitating factors and etiologies. After evaluating for acute myocardial infarction, tachydysrhythmias, and valvular pathologies based on physical exam and ECG, the treatment for these Read more…
Case A 35 year-old female with no PMH is brought in by her mother for acting strangely. Mother notes the patient has had two days of cough and cold-like symptoms with nausea today. She slept all day and upon waking, she was confused and not making any sense. +fever, +epigastric Read more…
A young, tall, athletic man is brought to your emergency department by ambulance after he experiences sudden-onset shortness of breath. He’s tachypneic but not has otherwise normal vital signs upon examination. You’re not sure if you hear breath sounds on one side. Being the ultrasound enthusiast that you are, you Read more…
Why are your lungs so fluffy? Ventilation of the difficult-to-oxygenate patient. Written by Dr. Bryan Jarrett A patient with unknown history was brought in by EMS after being found down by his brother in their apartment. He had agonal respirations with oxygen saturation in the 70s and HR in Read more…
A 67-year-old man with history of COPD, HIV (CD4 50), peripheral vascular disease, DVT, and chronic renal failure presented to the ED with AMS and dyspnea after missing one dialysis session due to a transportation issue. His home attendant found him at home confused and called EMS. She reported that there was no Read more…
The Case: A 20 year-old male h/o DM was found down and unresponsive after a gas explosion downtown with agonal respirations and extensive burns to anterior trunk, right upper extremity and bilateral lower extremities. Vital signs were BP 150/92 HR 98 RR 10 O2 sat 97% on room air, FSG Read more…
By Bryan Jarrett/Ian deSouza (Presented in conference by Raul Hernandez) The Case A 49 year-old man was found laying on bedroom floor by his family, covered in his own feces and urine. He was verbal but also confused and combative and had to be restrained by 2 emergency response teams Read more…
Here’s the scene: A 60 year-old man with a recent NSTEMI is admitted for pneumonia. The nurse suddenly calls you to the bedside, because the patient is unresponsive. He has no pulse, so you start chest compressions. Initial rhythm is PEA so you give epinephrine and continue compressions as the Read more…
