In this two part series, we are delving into a few of the many controversies regarding procedural sedation and explore how to reduce resource utilization and ED length of stay. In PART 1, we discussed preprocedural fasting and concluded that adherence to fasting guidelines is unnecessary in healthy patients undergoing proceduralRead More →
Procedural sedation is commonly performed in the Emergency Department. It is a critical tool that helps facilitate unpleasant but often necessary procedures that our patients would otherwise not tolerate. However, procedural sedation is also an extraordinarily resource-intensive endeavor. Most often, it requires cardiac monitoring and many interprofessional personnel. Also, despiteRead More →
Emergency medicine is a diverse specialty. We’ve all had the shift where you go from suturing an elderly woman’s scalp, to managing an anxious patient with chest pain, to running a cardiac arrest as EMS patches in with a trauma. We wear many hats throughout a single shift and it’sRead More →
Journal Club Summary Methodology Score: 4/5 Usefulness Score: 3/5 Driver BE, et al. JAMA. 2018 May 16. doi: 10.1001/jama.2018.6496. Question/Methods: This single-centre, randomized clinical trial enrolled 757 patients to compare first-attempt intubation success facilitated by the bougie to ETT plus stylet, in an ED where use of the bougie wasRead More →
In this post, we will review the anatomy, essential history, and common presentations of tracheostomy patients in the ED, including obstruction, decannulation, bleeding, tracheal stenosis, and infection. Anatomy of a tracheostomy tube Outer cannula Sits directly in the tracheal stoma Proximal end designed to allow tube to be easily securedRead More →