Total Em - Tools Of The Trade And Academic Learning In Emergency Medicine

We have made it!  Another milestone to celebrate.  200 podcasts down and (hopefully) many more to come.  The format continues to change, but we hope to provide many great discussions and continue to educate as much as possible.  The goal moving forward is to continue to provide high quality content.

Adrian Banning is back as our guest host this week.  Once again, she did a stellar job and performed a very interesting interview with David Allen.  As demonstrated on his Instagram account, he has become internationally renowned for his work as a tattoo artist.  He focuses most of his work on mastectomy scar coverage.  He has been published on JAMA and has been a speaker for medical conferences.   The unique skills and experiences have contributed to the discussion of this podcast.

Adrian Banning is acting as the host this week (and did a fantastic job!).  She interviewed Katherine (Katie) Thompson from IPV Educators regarding domestic violence surrounding the changes with COVID-19 and how we can still help these patients.  

If you have been to a healthcare facility recently or work in a hospital, chances are you have been screened as soon as you got to that location.  Sometimes, you are even screened prior to arrival.  The same strategies are being proposed to help us return to our "normal" lives.  While this may seem like a beneficial strategy, there is a significant problem with these screening protocols.

We are in a point of time where information is incredibly easy to access.  We also have the convenience to be able to rapidly share information.  We are also in a crisis from a pandemic.  We as a whole are in a dangerous situation where misinformation, rumors, and bias can play a major part in hurting ourselves, our loved ones, and the world as a whole.

We are in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, and there are still many unanswered questions.  As mentioned in our previous post, we will not discuss in detail specific treatments yet as new data is constantly coming out and it is all very limited.  However, one question that comes up frequently is the use of ibuprofen and if it is safe with COVID-19.

Infectious disease can become intertwined with illicit drug use for a variety of reasons.  HIV, hepatitis, and endocarditis are some of the common examples where drug use can lead someone to need help from an infectious disease specialist.  However, Patrick Bafuma interviewed Dr. Michael Silverman regarding some interesting research he did regarding how certain drugs were increasing the risk of serious infections.

With our last podcast discussing some of the key facts of COVID-19, it is worth discussing another important component: resource utilization.  One of the scarier projections with a large outbreak is how resources can be used to their maximum capacity very quickly.  We break down how COVID-19 is one example that can have disastrous consequences.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been a very popular topic over the last few months.  However, there has been a great deal of misinformation and new information that has changed what we previously thought about this disease.  While we discuss this topic, it is worth noting that this may continue to change further and that this post was last updated on 3/3/2020.

Blunt trauma in the pediatric patient is fairly common.  Blunt trauma to the abdomen though is less common and provides some unique challenges.  The patient's developmental stage, limitations in verbal and language skills, lack of prehospital information, and the potential for an unreliable exam creates a situation that can create additional stress for both the family and those taking care of the patient.  We will break down a recent EB Medicine article and cover some of the key aspects that will help you provide better care to these patients.

Patients present with headaches frequently, but they do not all need imaging.  However, the question becomes who does need the imaging?  The American College of Radiology updated their guidelines from the ones previously made in 2014 and we provide a rapid review in this post.

One of the most commonly feared diagnoses to miss in medicine is the ruptured aortic aneurysm or aortic dissection.  Despite classic teachings, the presentation of most patients is not textbook.  While there are many studies trying to find ways to help with the evaluation, they have been limited in success.  However, what if you add ultrasound?  We discuss some new evidence in this post.

Patrick Bafuma is back for the second part of his EM ID interview with Dr. Valerie Vaughn.  She is internal medicine trained and a hospitalist with a special interest in infectious disease.  Go back to Podcast #182 to hear her discussion with nudges as it comes back to play in this post.

Tibial plateau fractures can be easily missed, especially to the untrained eye.  Missing these important fractures can have devastating outcomes.  In this post we will talk about how to identify and manage these fractures.

Point of care ultrasound (POCUS) can range in complexity from very basic exams to those that are expert level in nature.  While some basic wall motion abnormalities are taught in many introductory classes, the concept of regional wall motion abnormalities (RWMA) for myocardial infarctions (MIs) can be a little more complicated and as a result is often not taught to novice learners of POCUS.  Some have questioned the validity of the results, as well.  In this post, we will cover some highlights including recent evidence that may further support the potential role of RWMA in MIs.

Patrick Bafuma is back to provide another EM ID special, this time with Dr. Valerie Vaughn.  She is internal medicine trained and a hospitalist with a special interest in infectious disease.  The concept of asymptomatic bacteriuria has been discussed before with with Podcast #158, but this time Dr. Vaughn introduces the idea of nudges and how it can help use reduce our antibiotic use.

Both rashes and fevers are very common complaints in the emergency department.  However, the challenge becomes very real distinguishing the serious to the more benign.  Fortunately, EB Medicine has once again come to help make this challenging topic a little easier to understand.  We review some of the highlights from their article in this post.

Another year is in the books.  We appreciate you reading the blog and listening to the podcast.  This post is devoted to wrapping up the year.

Happy Holidays and if you are listening to this when it is published, Merry Christmas.  Last year for Podcast #127, on Christmas Day we reviewed the importance of family, friends, and colleagues.  This year we wanted to discuss the importance of kindness.

We love EB Medicine specials and we hope you do, too!  This time we are talking about a subject that many forget about: pediatric stroke.  While it is far less common than what we see in the adult population, it carries a high morbidity and mortality rate.  In November, EB Medicine went into detail about this particular topic and we think it was a fantastic review.  Let's get started!