About Adam Spaulding, PharmD BCPS

Emergency Medicine Pharmacist,
Pharmacy Residency Program Director,
Waterbury Hospital Health Center,
Adjunct Assistant Professor - UCONN School of Pharmacy,
Contributor to Emergency Medicine PharmD Blog

Trick of the Trade: IV-Push Antibiotics in the ED

IV_arm5 copyLimited intravenous access is a common conundrum in the Emergency Department, with heavy implications for medication administration. Of particular concern, are the profoundly septic patients that necessitate multiple timely therapies, which require tying up a line – fluids, pressors, several antibiotics, etc. The shift away from less central line (i.e. triple lumen) placement for initial resuscitation, may serve to further exacerbate this issue.

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D50 vs D10 for Severe Hypoglycemia in the Emergency Department

d50

Think back to your last severely hypoglycemic and lethargic patient presenting to the ED. What was the first treatment modality that came to mind? The initial knee-jerk reaction might be to reach for that big blue box of D50 if the patient has IV access. After all, top priority is to reverse hypoglycemia as fast as possible. But in the midst of stabilizing the patient, how often do we consider the potential aftermath of concentrated glucose?

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