Trick of the Trade: Ultrasound for Pedal Pulse Identification and ABI

The Problem: A patient is rolled in to your ED by EMS with extremity trauma. You’re rightfully concerned about possible vascular injury to an upper or lower extremity, but you can’t palpate a dorsalis pedis (DP) or posterior tibialis (PT) pulse! You spend minutes, whisking the doppler probe, attempting to hear a waveform in a busy ED. Unfortunately you can’t seem to hear the “whoosh,” making accurate it nearly impossible for you to measure ankle-brachial indices (ABI). ^1–3

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By Christian Rose, MD|2026-06-16T16:09:35-07:00May 4, 2016|Cardiovascular, Trauma, Tricks of the Trade|

Trick of the Trade: Securing the intraosseous needle

So much attention is appropriately focused on the anatomy and technique for intraosseous needle placement. In contrast, very little attention is paid to securing the needle. Often this involves a make-shift setup which involves gauze, wraps, and/or tape. This becomes especially important in the prehospital setting where these can be easily dislodged. The following trick stems from a Twitter discussion in 2015 amongst prehospital providers, lamenting this fact.

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By Michelle Lin, MD|2019-01-28T21:40:34-08:00May 3, 2016|Critical Care/ Resus, Tricks of the Trade|

PEM Pearls: Hydrocortisone stress-dosing in adrenal insufficiency for children

During your shifts in the pediatric ED, you may encounter a few patients with adrenal insufficiency or adrenal crisis. Some of the most common causes include those patients with Addison disease, pituitary hypothalamic pathology, and those patients on chronic steroids. When these patients get sick or sustain trauma, it is important to consider giving them a stress dose of hydrocortisone. Patients in adrenal insufficiency or crisis can present with dehydration, weakness, nausea, vomiting, confusion, lethargy, and severe hypotension refractory to vasopressors. ^1–3

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By Delphine Huang, MD|2017-10-26T14:34:06-07:00May 2, 2016|Endocrine-Metabolic, Pediatrics, PEM Pearls|

Synthetic cannabinoid use reaches new heights: K2 is not just a mountain on the China-Pakistan boarder

You are working a shift in the emergency department, and you hear the ambulance sirens. EMS is bringing you two patients, friends from a nearby shelter. Per report, the two men were “smoking drugs” together outside of the shelter. Bystanders noted that the 29-year-old man became increasingly agitated, shouting, banging on the door, and threatening his other shelter mates, while the other, a 50-year-old man, laid down on the sidewalk. EMS also reports picking up these patients in an area known for high “K2” use.

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By Denise Fernandez, MD|2026-06-16T16:09:29-07:00Apr 27, 2016|CME, Tox & Medications|

Did the Affordable Care Act actually reduce ED visits as politicians promised?

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was supposed to expand coverage to the uninsured and many politicians claimed this would result in lower use of “expensive emergency rooms” for the treatment of patients’ acute complaints. Ignore, for the moment, the controversy about whether or not the emergency department (ED) is an expensive or appropriate place for patients to seek care. A new survey [PDF] from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), asked the question: Did the ACA actually reduce ED visits as politicians promised?¹

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By Cedric Dark, MD MPH|2016-12-20T12:28:25-08:00Apr 26, 2016|Public Policy|

Ultrasound For the Win! Case – 43-year-old Man with Syncope #US4TW

Welcome to another ultrasound-based case, part of the “Ultrasound For The Win!” (#US4TW) Case Series. In this peer-reviewed case series, we focus on real clinical cases where bedside ultrasound changed management or aided in diagnoses. In this case, a 43-year-old man presents to the Emergency Department after a syncopal episode.

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By Peter Reardon, MD|2017-07-19T00:06:51-07:00Apr 21, 2016|Cardiovascular, Ultrasound, Ultrasound for the Win|

AIR Pro Series: Critical Care, Part 1 (2016)

Below we have listed our selection of the 12 highest quality blog posts related to 5 advanced level questions on critical care topics posed, curated, and approved for residency training by the AIR-Pro Series Board. The blogs relate to the following questions:

Ultrasound fluid assessment
Ultrasound in critical care
Vasopressors for critical care patients
Peripheral intravenous vasopressor administration
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation basics

In this module, we have 8 AIR-Pro’s and 4 honorable mentions. To strive for comprehensiveness, we selected from a broad spectrum of blogs identified through FOAMSearch.net.

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By Fareen Zaver, MD|2026-06-16T16:09:21-07:00Apr 20, 2016|Approved Instructional Resources PRO (AIR-Pro Series), Critical Care/ Resus|