Just a few days after the new EM interns start, today's episode will talk about my advice to new EM interns.  Think of this as the "big picture advice" or a 30,000 foot view of how to approach EM residency.  I'll talk about 4 major big picture points to keep in mind as you start your residency.  This will go way beyond arrive early, stay late, and always keep learning and expand on some big picture ideas of how to function well as a new intern.

Today’s episode is on the evaluation and management of sickle cell anemia in the Emergency Department. Dr Jared Walker, a third year EM resident at the University of Florida Jacksonville, has written and recorded this excellent review of sickle cell disease. This episode will discuss how to properly assess patients with sickle cell, how to order the right labs and imaging, what red flags to look out for, how to control sickle cell pain, how to catch the various complications of sickle cell,...

Today's episode will discuss North American poisonous reptile bites with a focus on snake bites.  This episode was written and recorded by Dr. David Hansen, an active duty physician with the US Army.  It will review common presentations of snake bites, the relevant history and exam findings, the labs to order, how to decide when to use anti-venom and properly administer it.  There is also a bonus section on how to avoid snake bites in the wilderness and what to do if you are bitten by a...

This episode is on hyperthermia- just in time for the warmer weather.  However, hyperthermia has many different causes so this episode will review them all.  Dr. Andrea Sarchi wrote this script which was recorded by Jacob Schriner, MS-3 at Emory University School of Medicine.  This episode will review the necessary history and physical exam findings, ordering the right labs and tests, and how to treat this condition to ensure the best patient outcomes.  

Today's episode is a quick review of Thyroid emergencies by Dr. Patrick Ng, a 3rd year EM resident in San Antonio, recorded by Jacob Schriner MS-3.  Thyroid emergencies can be difficult to recognize in the ED because they present in so many different ways.  Today's episode will review how to recognize these emergencies, order the right tests, and provide the correct critical treatments.

This episode is a re-broadcast of the first sepsis episode in February 2012.  I am republishing the part of that episode that deals with the definitions of sepsis.  I think the new sepsis guidelines rely too much on clinician judgment and gestalt in identifying septic patients so this will be helpful to learners.  To be clear- the term severe sepsis is not in use any more- we only have sepsis and septic shock.  However, learning this stepwise progression (even if patient's don't follow it)...

This episode is a total revamp of the previous episode on sepsis.  A lot has changed with sepsis management since I published the sepsis episode in February 2012 so it was time for a complete overhaul.  The new sepsis guidelines have been out for about a year and I finally got around to updating the episode.  This episode will discuss the recognition of sepsis, how to do a good physical exam and ask the right history questions, order the right tests, and aggressively resuscitate these very...

Today's episode is on Croup- just in time for the middle of the croup season.  Your ED may even be filled with kids with a barking cough as we speak.  Today's episode was written by Taylor Fischer and Stewart Harsant, two physician assistants who have done an excellent job of summarizing this common pediatric disease process.  This episode will review the diagnosis of croup, how to risk stratify kids with croup, and how to treat and disposition them properly.  Most of the time, kids with...

This is Ortho Inservice Review Part 3 which covers injuries to the Pelvis, Lower Extremities, and Pediatric Ortho conditions.  This screencast originally appeared on the Emergency Board Review Podcast in 2012.

This is Ortho Inservice Review Part 2 which will cover injuries to the wrist and hand.  This screencast originally appeared on the Emergency Board Review Podcast in 2012.

In Part 1 of this 3 part series for Orthopedics inservice review we'll review orthopedic injuries to the Thorax and Upper Extremities.  This is a screencast that was originally broadcasted on the Emergency Board Review website and podcast in 2012.

Just in time for the midway point of the winter season, this is a podcast on management of hypothermia in the ED.  Dr. Andrea Sarchi wrote the script which was recorded by Jacob Schriner, a second year medical student at Emory University School of Medicine.  In this episode we'll review the basics of hypothermia diagnosis, history and physical exam pearls, treatment and disposition of these patients.  As always we'll start with the "not sick" patient and then work our way up to the critically...

In part 2, Dr Sheyna Gifford will discuss the how to differentiate opioid overdose from other causes of altered mental status, some special disposition situations (especially with methadone), and how we can quickly screen for opioid abuse and provide patients compassionate care, treatment, and referral.

It's no secret that we have a major opioid problem in the United States.  The number of people addicted to opioids has reached epidemic proportions and we are certainly seeing this everyday in the Emergency Department.  In this episode Dr. Sheyna Gifford discusses a few facts about the scope of this epidemic,  the basics of recognizing opioid overdose, and initial stabilization and treatment.  She'll discuss the many different ways of using naloxone (aka Narcan) that we can utilize to wake up...

EM Basic is back with a re-broadcast from the awesome podcast Pediatric Emergency Playbook by Dr. Tim Horeczko.  Tim is a double boarded in EM and Peds EM and works at Harbor-UCLA hospital.  This was the first episode he published at the beginning of September and it is pure gold.  Tim goes beyond the febrile neonate and talks about how to consider all possible causes for a sick infant- not just anchoring on sepsis the whole time!  Tim presents a rational and systematic approach on how to...

This is part 2 of the Heme Onc Emergencies series.  This episode will talk about common hematology emergencies that we see in the ED.  Sickle cell disease will be its own episode but this episode will talk about the approach to anemia in the ED, as well as the approach to hemophilias, ITP and TTP.  While you will see lots of anemic patients in the ED, the other diseases are rare but we have to be on the look out for them and know what to do.

This is the first of a two part series on Heme-Onc Emergencies.  In this episode, we'll discuss oncology emergencies to include neutropenic fever, tumor lysis syndrome, malignant spinal cord compression and malignant pericardial effusion.  Neutropenic fever is a common chief complaint for patients on chemotherapy so we have to be good at this chief complaint.

Today's episode is another installment of the EM Basic Project.  Dr. Sheyna Gifford and Dr. Chrisanna Mink will talk about measles.  This is a disease that we thought we had stamped out long ago with vaccination but the rise of the anti-vaccine movement has caused several small outbreaks so we need to be ready and on the lookout.  They will discuss how to recgonize measles, how to order the right testing and treatment, how to properly disposition these patients and the importance of getting...

Today marks the 4th anniversary of the EM Basic podcast.  To celebrate this occasion, we are going to do a screencast on aortic dissection.  This is a very challenging disease to diagnose because patients have lots of different presentations that can make it difficult to diagnose.  We'll talk about the common presentations of dissection, the not-so-common presentations, how to order the right imaging, how to treat these patients in the ED, and how to get them to the right level of care.

Today marks the 4th anniversary of the EM Basic podcast.  To celebrate this occasion, we are going to do a screencast on aortic dissection.  This is a very challenging disease to diagnose because patients have lots of different presentations that can make it difficult to diagnose.  We'll talk about the common presentations of dissection, the not-so-common presentations, how to order the right imaging, how to treat these patients in the ED, and how to get them to the right level of care.

Today's episode of EM Basic will review vaginal bleeding in patients who are not pregnant.  This is a much different workup from pregnant patients with vaginal bleeding so we have to know how to effectively manage this chief complaint. This episode was written and recorded by Dr. Adaira Landry, an EM senior resident at NYU/Bellevue and Joe Kennedy, a 4th year medical student at Mayo who matched into EM just after this episode was recorded.  They'll review what vital signs to look out for,...

Today's episode will cover Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC), aka Care Under Fire, aka Care in the Immediately Unsafe Environment.  Dr. Andy Bohn, a residency colleague, recorded today's episode to talk about the basics of taking care of any patient in an unsafe environment.  While the military connotations of this may make you uncomfortable, the techniques and protocols he discusses can be directly translated into any civilian mass casualty scenario such as the Boston Marathon bombing or...

EM Basic is back with a brand new episode.  Today's episode was done by Dylan Norton and David Murphy, both 4th year medical students at the University of Colorado Medical School.  We see epistaxis a lot in the ED and while most of it is mild and self limiting, there are frequently cases that take a lot of skill to manage.  They'll talk about the basics of the history and physical with epistaxis, how to order the necessary lab tests, how to manage any case of epistaxis in a step-wise manner,...