Donna is a 48-year-old female brought by EMS to your community ED after her roommates noticed her behaving erratically at home. They report she has been vomiting and become increasingly confused over the past 24 hours, now complaining of right upper quadrant discomfort. She was recently discharged from the hospital a week ago following an uncomplicated ankle ORIF. Donna’s roommates tell you she is otherwise healthy, but does consume two to three glasses …
Tiny Tips: The 6 S’s Mnemonic for Mitigating Cognitive Bias in the Emergency Department
The chaos and rapidity associated with the ED make it an environment much more prone to diagnostic error.1 96% of these incidents involving missed diagnoses can be attributed to various cognitive biases/factors.2 The consequence of these biases ultimately lead to incomplete H/P’s (20-42% of errors),2,3 failure to consider competing diagnoses (32% of errors),3 or failure to order or follow-up on investigations (44-58% of errors).2,3 So what can be done? Presented below are 6 …