ALiEMU CAPSULES Module 4: Pharmacology of Emergency Airway Management – Part 2

By |Categories: Capsules, Tox & Medications|

The next CAPSULES module is in! Part 2 of our 2-part airway series is now published on the Academic Life in EM University (ALiEMU) website. Pharmacology of Airway Management – Part 1 provided some outstanding information on topics such as preoxygenation and apneic oxygenation, awake intubation, delayed sequence intubation, and the pediatric airway. We are excited to announce the next installment of the popular CAPSULES series: Pharmacology of Emergency Airway Management – Part 2. [+]

AIR Series: Environmental Module

By |Categories: Approved Instructional Resources (AIR series), Environmental|

Unlike the previous cardiology modules, the environmental module was comparatively under-represented in the top 50 sites of the Social Media Index. Below we have listed our selection of the 3 highest quality blog posts within the past 12 months (as of September 2015) related to environmental emergencies, curated and approved for residency training by the AIR Series Board. More specifically in this module, we identified 0 AIRs and 3 Honorable Mentions. [+]

Evaluation and Management of Heat Stroke

By |Categories: Environmental, Expert Peer Reviewed (Clinical)|

Heat-related illnesses comprise a continuum of disorders ranging from the minor heat edema, heat rash, heat cramps, and heat exhaustion to the more life-threatening condition known as heat stroke. As a general rule, it is involves a process whereby heat gain overwhelms the body’s mechanisms of heat loss. Often it is caused by an impairment of the body’s cooling and adaptive mechanism to effectively transfer heat to the environment, thus leading to a rise in core temperature. 1 [+]

PV Card: Initial Pain Medication Options in the Emergency Department

By |Categories: ALiEM Cards, Tox & Medications|

The emergency department (ED) manages acute pain on a daily basis, ranging from non-traumatic back pain to traumatic fractures. Some providers jump immediately to opioids without considering other non-opioid alternatives or start at incorrect doses. In the age of the opioid epidemic (ALiEM-Annals of EM journal club; bookclub discussing Dreamland) and medication errors, choosing the initial right agent(s) and dose(s) are important. Dr. Nick Koch and Dr. Sergey Motov (@PainFreeED) from Maimonides Medical Center present a thoughtful, evidence-based PV reference card on selecting and dosing initial pain medications for ED patients. Also congratulations to Dr. Motov and his team for their recent 2015 Annals of EM [+]

  • Capnography in CPR

PV Card: Continuous End Tidal CO2 Monitoring in Cardiac Arrest

By |Categories: ALiEM Cards, Cardiovascular, Critical Care/ Resus|

For many years, end tidal CO2 monitoring initially was helpful in differentiating tracheal versus esophageal intubations. Now with continuous end tidal capnography, providers have access to so much more information during a cardiac arrest resuscitation, as summarized by the recently released 2015 American Heart Association (AHA) recommendations.1 Thanks to Dr. Abdullah Bakhsh from Emory University for a great PV card to help remind us of these key cardiac resuscitation pearls. PV Card: Continuous End Tidal CO2 Monitoring in Cardiac Arrest  Adapted from [1-4] References Link M, Berkow L, Kudenchuk P, et al. Part 7: Adult Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support: 2015 American Heart Association Guidelines [+]

PV Card: Normal Values for Ultrasound Measurements

By |Categories: ALiEM Cards, Ultrasound|

As emergency medicine providers become more proficient in using bedside ultrasonography as a diagnostic tool, it can be difficult to remember all of the normal cutoff values. Is it 3 or 5 mm as the cutoff? Thanks to the team at UCSF (Dr. Maria Beylin, Dr. Scott Fischette, and Dr. Nate Teismann) for creating a succinct PV card listing the key numbers to remember. You can download this PV card into your mobile device as a reference guide, or you can even print and attach to each of your ultrasound machines!   PV Card: Normal Values for Ultrasound Measurements  Adapted from [1–4] References Horrow M. Ultrasound [+]

NEXUS Chest CT Decision Instruments in Blunt Trauma

By |Categories: Radiology, Trauma|

One of the five 2014 American College of Surgeons’ Choosing Wisely recommendations is to avoid routing whole-body CT imaging of trauma patents, also known as the ‘pan-CT’. Until now, no validated decision instrument existed to help guide clinicians decide whether to obtain a chest CT in the setting of blunt trauma. This month, Dr. Robert Rodriguez and the multi-institutional NEXUS Chest CT research team published a paper describing the derivation and validation of 2 decision instruments in PLOS Medicine [1]. [+]

AIR Series: Cardiology – CHF, PVD, and Others (part 2)

By |Categories: Approved Instructional Resources (AIR series), Cardiovascular|

As mentioned last module, the FOAMsphere contains a phenomenal amount of cardiology content. Accordingly, the CORD testing schedule and our cardiology module has been divided into two parts. Below we have listed our selection of the 12 highest quality blog posts within the past 12 months (as of August 2015) related to acute coronary syndromes, curated and approved for residency training by the AIR Series Board. In this module we have 6 AIRs and 6 Honorable Mentions. We strive for comprehensiveness by selecting from a broad spectrum of blogs from the top 50 listing per the Social Media Index. [+]

ALiEM Bookclub | Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic

By |Categories: Book Club, Tox & Medications|

They started at once, and went about among the Lotus-eaters, who did them no hurt, but gave them to eat of the lotus, which was so delicious that those who ate of it left off caring about home, and did not even want to go back and say what had happened to them, but were for staying and munching lotus with the Lotus-eaters without thinking further of their return. — Odyssey IX, translated by Samuel Butler [+]

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