Introduction It’s a cliche that holds true now more than ever – the emergency department really is the front door to the medical system. Despite many health and social services shuttering or moving to virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic, the emergency department remains open 24/7. Our EDs are still committed to seeing anyone who shows up, in communities of all sizes from coast-to-coast. And while we try to keep people at home …
CPR Algorithm Adjustments when Caring for Suspected or Confirmed COVID Cases
View PostNavigating Patient Handovers
06:50AM: You are heading towards the tail end of your night shift, swamped with traumas, resuscitations, and overall high volumes of patients. You look forward to heading back to the warm embrace of your bed. However, before you can leave, you run your list again with your supervising physician and realize that there are still a few patients that will likely need to be handed over to the morning shift physician. The incoming …
Practice Essentials: Long Term Care Patients in the Emergency Department
The Case: An 86-year old female from a long-term care (LTC) facility is transferred to the Emergency Department (ED). She is primarily Russian speaking. The transfer note lists a history of hypertension, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, and advanced dementia. She arrives alone by EMS to the ED with the transfer sheet saying, “chest pain”. She is wandering around the ED and the nursing team is having a difficult time keeping her in her room. You …
Using quality appraisal techniques to find trustworthy content in the FOAM universe
The COVID-19 Pandemic has highlighted the vast amount of information exchange that happens over the internet for healthcare providers. Learn to judge quality in Free Open Access Medical Education!
The RULES of Patient Reassessments
You have seen the patient, collected a thorough history of pertinent positives and negatives, completed a comprehensive physical, generated a differential diagnosis, presented the case to your attending and ordered all the appropriate investigations. The next step in providing the best care in the emergency department is reassessing, reassessing, and reassessing. The Emergency Department is unique in that there is minimal continuity of care. Once the patient is discharged from the department you …