Welcome back to PoCUS Previews, your illustrated guide to the world of Point of Care Ultrasound (PoCUS)! This month’s infographic will focus on image and probe orientation, different probe movements that can be used to generate these images, and some common artifacts (or abnormal alterations in ultrasound images). Ultrasound images can be challenging to interpret when we consider their dynamic nature and varying conventions that surround them. This infographic breaks down the orientation …
HiQuiPs: Patient Safety Fundamentals – Introduction & Hospital Acquired Infections
It’s another Friday morning on the ward, and you are looking forward to discharging one of your patients home to spend time in their garden over the weekend. Ms. Jones is an 83-year-old lady admitted a few days ago with what turned out to be a urinary tract infection. Initially weak and slightly confused, after some IV fluids and oral antibiotics, she has been back to her peppy self over the past day. …
Tiny Tips: The COWS Scale
As the opiate crisis continues to escalate, emergency departments are seeing higher numbers of patients with complaints and complications related to opiate use disorder. There is strong evidence for opiate agonist treatment in preventing opiate related deaths. Additionally, Suboxone (buprenorphine-naloxone) is the recommended first line treatment.1 Suboxone Treatment For a full Suboxone start, a patient is required to be in moderate withdrawal, meaning a Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale (COWS) score of greater than …
Introducing the CanadiEM Junior Learner Primer App
We’ve developed the CanadiEM Junior Learner Primer App to help support junior medical learners during their emergency medicine rotations. In the fast-paced environment of emergency medicine, learners can often find themselves overwhelmed when faced with the acuity as well as the wide variety of cases. Communication and time management skills requirements can also be very different when compared to other specialities. To help make emergency rotations easier and more meaningful, we have created …
Miracles from Heaven Case Report: Small Bowel Obstruction
Earlier in the day, five-year-old Annabel had a regular morning and afternoon. She attended a birthday party and seemed to be herself, laughing with her friends and running around. At 0200 and Annabel calls for her mom, crying and clutching her stomach. Her mom rushes into her daughter’s room and finds Annabel in significant pain. Annabel is rushed to the hospital at 0400. At triage, she is in significant discomfort, crying, and tachycardic. …
Clinical Question – How Do I Approach Agitation and Aggression in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the Emergency Department?
A 7-year-old boy with autism spectrum disorder presents to the emergency department (ED) with upper respiratory infection symptoms. He starts becoming agitated as you try to auscultate his lungs and aggressively comes towards you. You are unsure of the best method to approach this situation. Research has demonstrated that almost one third of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who present to the emergency department had negative experiences or unwanted outcomes.1,2 Children with …