We are excited to introduce the Sixth edition of The Ottawa Handbook of Emergency Medicine. Your bedside guide for approaches to various Emergency Medicine presentations.
Highlights of the Sixth edition include the addition of: Oncologic emergencies, approach to the pregnant patient, geriatrics and more!
Deferring Arterial Catheterization in Critically Ill Patients with Shock
Deferring Arterial Catheterization in Critically Ill Patients with Shock Muller G, et al. Deferring Arterial Catheterization in Critically Ill Patients with Shock. N Engl J Med. 2025 Nov 13;393(19):1875-1888 Editorial: A Less Invasive Approach to Intensive Care....
Beyond Weight Loss: ED Implications of the GLP-1 Era
GLP-1 receptor agonists have moved from niche diabetes therapies to some of the most commonly encountered medications in modern clinical practice. Drugs like semaglutide and tirzepatide are reshaping the management of obesity and cardiometabolic disease, with millions...
Journal Club: A Crossover Trial of Hospital-Wide Lactated Ringer’s Solution vs Normal Saline
A Crossover Trial of Hospital-Wide Lactated Ringer's Solution versus Normal Saline McIntyre L, et al. Canadian Critical Care Trials Group. A Crossover Trial of Hospital-Wide Lactated Ringer's Solution versus Normal Saline. N Engl J Med. 2025 Aug 14;393(7):660-670....
Traumatic Brain Injuries: A (m)BIG Headache
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common yet challenging presentation in emergency medicine. As CT imaging becomes increasingly sensitive, clinicians are identifying more subtle intracranial injuries. The Brain Injury Guidelines (BIG) and Modified Brain Injury...
Liar, Liar, Clot on Fire: Is a Negative D-Dimer Always Enough?
Venous thromboembolism, which includes deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), is one of the most commonly worked-up diagnoses in the emergency department. Approximately half of all DVTs embolize to the lungs, and the annual incidence of PEs is about 1...
Going viral – Emergency Medicine in the age of algorithms
“A patient sits in front of you, phone in hand. ‘I think I have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy… I saw it on TikTok.’” Social media is no longer peripheral to healthcare, it is embedded within it. From how patients interpret symptoms to how clinicians learn, connect, and...
Blood Pressure Targets in Trauma Resuscitation: The New Thinking
Blood pressure management in trauma is one of the most deceptively complex decisions we make in the emergency department. In the first hour of resuscitation, competing physiologic priorities collide: permissive hypotension may protect clot integrity in hemorrhagic...
PTM Journal Club – Post-intubation Hypotension in Trauma Patients with Severe TBI
In this month’s Journal Club, we explored the impact of post-intubation hypotension for critically ill trauma patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the prehospital setting. Background and Study Objectives Trauma patients present with a variety of...
Signal or Noise? Using Inflammatory Markers Wisely Through a Bayesian Lens
There seems to be a growing cultural obsession with “inflammation”. Scroll through social media long enough and you’ll find sweeping claims: inflammation is the root of fatigue, weight gain, menstrual cramps, brain fog, and even depression. And alongside this...
Smarter Starts and Safer Stops: Antibiotic Stewardship in the ED
Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) is about using the right antibiotic, only when needed, and choosing the appropriate dose, route, and duration. The goal is to treat infections effectively while reducing harm, both to the individual and to the healthcare system. It’s...