Emergency medicine resuscitation – When minutes matter…
A brief summary of the initial emergency medicine approach to the patient with altered mental status
You are called into resuscitation, where EMS has just finished transferring a 55 year old man onto the ED stretcher. They were called after his family found him unconscious at home. His current GCS is 3… Continue reading “The emergency medicine approach to an unconscious patient”
A brief review of key actions during the first 10 minutes in the resuscitation room with a patient in status epilepticus
EMS arrives with a 39 year old woman who was found down in a generalized tonic clonic seizure. The seizure has been ongoing for at least 12 minutes now. No information is available about her past history. The paramedics were unable to start an IV, but did administer a dose of IM midazolam…
Continue reading “Management of status epilepticus in the emergency department”
A simplified approach to the initial assessment and management of sick patients with VP shunts in the emergency department
A 4 year old presented to the ED with a mild headache, nausea, and vomiting, and was triaged to the sub-acute area of the department. You are called to the room stat, as the child is now unresponsive with a HR of 55, a BP of 167/65, and a sat of 96% on room air. His mom mentions that he had a VP shunt placed when he was younger, but now has no medical problems. The closest neurosurgeon is 45 minutes away, if everything goes perfectly…
