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!
5 Tips to Improve your Resuscitation Skills
To open up Critical Care week, resuscitation and trauma expert Dr. George Mastoras provides us with some tips to improve your (and your team's) resuscitation and crisis resource management skills. 1. Make teamwork everyone's business 'Team orientation' is associated...
The Anatomy and Physiology of a Resuscitation
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...
Congenital Cardiac Disease in the ED
Let's start off with a case: 29 year old male, HR: 140, BP: 70/40, Temperature of 39.1. Sounds like straight forward, bread-and-butter emergency medicine doesn't it? That is, until you look at the past medical history: Single Ventricle Hypoplastic RV Left AV Valve...
Flow Hacks for the Emergency Physician
One of the questions I am asked most frequently by learners is how they may improve and optimize their flow of patients in the Emergency Department (ED). I found through my education that this was not something implicitly taught, but absorbed by watching more senior...
Burn Management in the ED
The vast majority of burns that present to the ED can be managed as outpatients1,2, usually by the patient’s family doctor, but many emergency physicians do not feel comfortable with burn management. Burn management often follows the preferences and experiences of...
Coaching in Medical Education: Taking your clinical supervision to the next level
Consider world champion tennis player Roger Federer. He represents one of the most successful professional athletes of our time. To what does he owe his success? While he undoubtedly possesses a remarkable amount of motivation, dedication, and athleticism, there is...
Creatine Kinase: Antiquated Relic or useful adjunct in Diagnosing Acute Coronary Syndrome?
Chest pain is a common presenting complaint to Emergency Departments (ED) worldwide. Massive resource investment is required to differentiate benign from sinister causes of chest pain, and for the treatment, referral, and risk stratification of chest pain patients. A...
Update from the K-Hole: Ketamine in the ED
In this post, we discuss the pharmacology, myths, and a myriad of roles for Ketamine in the ED; including analgesia, sedation, agitation, alcohol withdrawal, and suicidal ideation. Part I: Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of ketamine Produced in 1970s,...
Introduction to Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC)
TCCC (Tactical combat casualty care) outlines the priorities of care for casualties in combat applications Nearly 90% of combat fatalities occur before reaching a medical treatment facility Prehospital phase is the focus of efforts to reduce deaths in combat TCCC...
Effect of Use of a Bougie vs Endotracheal Tube and Stylet on First-Attempt Intubation Success Among Patients With Difficult Airways Undergoing Emergency Intubation: A Randomized Clinical Trial
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...