There was a bit of a social media fracas a few weeks ago when the first ‘trial’ of remdesivir for COVID-19 was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. (The journal being a red flag that you might be seeing advertising rather than real science). It was an uncontrolled […]
N95 masks are designed to be single use. In normal times, they shouldn’t be reworn. In normal times, they shouldn’t be decontaminated and reused. But these are not normal times. COVID-19 has resulted in drastic PPE shortages around the world, and has left many hospital systems considering options for reusing […]
One of the true values of evidence based medicine is that it provides you with a systematic approach to new questions; an approach that should provide the best possible answer. Just a few months ago, I had never even considered the difference between a droplet and an aerosol. Now, I […]
Over the last month, normal blog content has taken a back seat to the COVID pandemic. I will continue to update the COVID resources, and write about new studies as they come out, but I think it is about time that we got back to regular content. Let’s start with […]
With good reason, we are all a lot more interested than usual in the mechanisms of transmission of infectious diseases. I have written at length about aerosols and droplets. I have also discussed the very limited evidence that we have when it comes to aerosol generating procedures. However, almost all […]
Although emergency medicine is an incredibly rewarding profession, it is undeniably marked by significant levels of stress. (Stress levels are at an all time high during COVID-19, but this is not a COVID post, so that is the last I will mention it.) Burnout levels are higher in emergency medicine […]
In the first post of this two part series, I went in depth into the basic science of droplets and aerosols, how they spread, and how that might impact our infection control practices. This post will take a closer look at aerosol generating procedures.
The rapid emergence of COVID-19 has created tremendous uncertainty in medicine. We don’t know where this pandemic is headed. We don’t know the ideal management strategy. Every day brings conflicting information. Emergency medicine is a field that embraces (or at least tolerates) uncertainty, but knowledge is an important pillar of […]
I will preface this COVID research roundup edition with the warning that we are making many decisions based on very weak science. I generally don’t include that many really weak studies in these write-ups, unless they are really entertaining. However, when searching for scientific answers to my questions about COVID, […]