• Clue pediatric rash game

IDEA Series: Use of gamification through Clue: Pediatric Rash Edition

By |Categories: Dermatology, IDEA series, Pediatrics|

Emergency Medicine (EM) physicians care for anyone, with anything, at any time. This includes pediatric patients as well as adults. For those without advanced pediatric training, “sick kids” can be quite intimidating. Rashes in the pediatric population are often benign, but in rare cases they portend significant illness. Rashes are also frequent chief complaints; In 2015, there were 1,452,300 pediatric ED visits for “skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders” [1]. We sought to improve the teaching of pediatric rashes in our residency curriculum. [+]

ACMT Toxicology Visual Pearls: The Doom from Down Under

By |Categories: ACMT Visual Pearls, Tox & Medications|

Inadvertent contact with this aquatic species causes excruciating pain and an overwhelming sense of impending doom.  What is this? Box Jellyfish (Chironex fleckeri) Irukandji Jellyfish (Carukia barnesi) Lion’s Mane Jellyfish (Cyanea capillata) Portuguese Man o’ War (Physalia physalis) [+]

Christopher Gardner, MD

Christopher Gardner, MD

Emergency Medicine Resident
Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, NC
Christopher Gardner, MD

ALiEMU New Course: Pediatric Ultrasound-Guided Peripheral IV Access

By |Categories: ALiEMU, Pediatrics, Ultrasound|

Did you know that the ALiEMU learning management platform has courses in addition to the AIR Series? We just published the third installment of the pediatric point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) series, which focuses on peripheral IV access using ultrasonography. Do you use the traditional transverse, transverse with dynamic needle tip visualization, or longitudinal ultrasound technique? [+]

  • Normal-shoulder series

EMRad: Can’t Miss Adult Shoulder Injuries

By |Categories: EMRad, Orthopedic, Radiology, Trauma|

Have you ever been working a shift at 3 am and wondered, “Am I missing something? I’ll just splint and instruct the patient to follow up with their primary doctor in 1 week.” This is a reasonable approach, especially if you’re concerned there could be a fracture. But we can do better. Enter the “Can’t Miss” series: a series organized by body part that will help identify injuries that ideally should not be missed. This list is not meant to be a comprehensive review of each body part, but rather aims to highlight and improve [+]

  • Normal-shoulder series

EMRad: Radiologic Approach to the Traumatic Shoulder

By |Categories: EMRad, Orthopedic, Radiology, Trauma|

This is EMRad, a series aimed at providing “just in time” approaches to commonly ordered radiology studies in the emergency department [1]. When applicable, it will provide pertinent measurements specific  to management, and offer a framework for when to get an additional view, if appropriate. We have already covered the elbow, the wrist, and the foot and ankle. Next up: the shoulder. [+]

ACMT Toxicology Visual Pearls: Tox Never Smelled So Good

By |Categories: ACMT Visual Pearls, Tox & Medications|

A child presents with tachypnea, tachycardia, and drooling after ingesting the sweet smelling contents of the pictured household item.  What toxin could explain this presentation? Camphor Eucalyptus oil Menthol Methyl salicylate/Oil of Wintergreen [+]

Jessica Hoglund, MD

Jessica Hoglund, MD

Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine
Carolinas Medical Center

Welcoming PECARN to Twitter

By |Categories: Pediatrics, Social Media & Tech|

Our organization has always been a champion and fan of the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) research collaborative. We jointly worked on designing their official Head Injury Decision Tool found printed in various emergency departments around the country, featured several PECARN authors on our ALiEM podcast, and provide summaries of their 147-and-growing list of publications in our P3 app. So it follows that we are incredibly honored and thrilled to announce our Twitter collaboration. We will be helping to run their Twitter account. Join @PECARNteam and keep current on their growing list of publications, their clinical take-home points, [+]

ALiEM AIR | Toxicology 2020 Module

By |Categories: ALiEMU, Approved Instructional Resources (AIR series), Tox & Medications|Tags: , , , |

  Welcome to the AIR Toxicology Module! After carefully reviewing all relevant posts from the top 50 sites of the Social Media Index, the ALiEM AIR Team is proud to present the highest quality online content related to toxicology emergencies. 11 blog posts within the past 12 months (as of March 2020) met our standard of online excellence and were curated and approved for residency training by the AIR Series Board. We identified 1 AIR and 10 Honorable Mentions. We recommend programs give 5.5 hours (about 30 minutes per article) of III credit for this module. [+]

Trick of the Trade: An Improvised Foreign Body Removal Device

By |Categories: HEENT, Tricks of the Trade|

Foreign bodies in the ear or the nose can be extremely challenging to remove, especially considering that a majority of them occur in children less than 7 years old who are likely to be uncooperative with exam [1]. In a previous post, we emphasized the need to pick the best tool for the job in order to minimize complications. What happens when you find yourself in an austere environment and the usual tools are not available? [+]

Guideline Review: Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention

By |Categories: Guideline Review, Infectious Disease, Tox & Medications|

While HIV medications receive much attention for the treatment of HIV infection, less attention has focused on the prophylaxis indications. In 2017, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated their guidelines on the indications for the HIV medications tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) and emtricitabine (2′,3′-dideoxy-5-fluoro-3′-thiacytidine, FTC) for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). The trade name for the combination medication is Truvada. These daily medications are taken by people at risk for HIV to prevent HIV. This Guideline Review succinctly summarizes the 77-page CDC document into the key pearls for emergency physicians. [+]

Shuhan He, MD
ALiEM Senior Systems Engineer;
Director of Growth, Strategic Alliance Initiative, Center for Innovation and Digital Health
Massachusetts General Hospital;
Chief Scientific Officer, Conductscience.com
Shuhan He, MD