Join us in our latest Pre-Hospital and Transport Medicine Journal Club, where we take a look at the most recent and relevant literature pertaining to the use of IOs in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, as well as the impact that pre-hospital intubation has with regards to ROSC success post resuscitative thoracotomy in individuals afflicted by out-of-hospital […] The post PTM Journal Club: ROSC following Resuscitative Thoracotomy & Tibial IO’s in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest appeared first on EMOttawa Blog ..read more

In this edition of PTM Journal Club explore the impact of bag-valve-mask ventilation as well as the use of lidocaine and/or amiodarone on the survivability of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.  Bag-Valve-Mask Ventilation and Survival From Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Multicenter Study Background and Objectives   Around 60,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) occur in Canada each year, which […] The post PTM Journal Club: BVM Ventilation and Refractory Shock in Out-Of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest appeared first on EMOttawa Blog ..read more

Patients living with functional neurologic disorders (FND) have been deeply stigmatized by the medical system. In a patient survey by FND Hope (an international organization for the research and advocacy around FND) 82% of patient respondents felt they had been treated poorly due to stigma relating to their FND diagnosis, primarily by emergency physicians [1] […] The post Functional Neurologic Disorders appeared first on EMOttawa Blog ..read more

Methodology: 3/5 Usefulness: 2/5 Ashburn NP, et al. JAMA Cardiol. 2023 Apr 1;8(4):347-356.  Editorial: Critical Appraisal of the Negative Predictive Performance of the European Society of Cardiology 0/1-Hour Algorithm for Evaluating Patients With Chest Pain in the US. Question and Methods: The authors completed preplanned subgroup analyses to determine if a 0-1 hour ultra-sensitive troponin […] The post Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin T Among Patients With Known Coronary Artery Disease appeared first on EMOttawa Blog ..read more

Point-of-care ultrasound (PoCUS) is becoming a cornerstone tool in our assessment of patient presentations and is helping us guide our clinical management. This is also represented in the amount of literature that has been published on the use of PoCUS in 2023. In this post, Dr. Murray reviews 5 articles (with case examples and videos), […] The post Probing 2023: PoCUS Articles to Change Your Practice appeared first on EMOttawa Blog ..read more

Opioid use disorder is a terrible disease that takes over people’s lives and leaves them overwhelmed, consumed by compulsions and cravings, and often alone. Over the past 10 years, opioid overdoses and deaths have continued to climb in Ontario, now surpassing the annual death toll from road traffic accidents. It’s only natural for healthcare providers […] The post BHP Corner: The Opioid Crisis appeared first on EMOttawa Blog ..read more

Methodology: 3/5 Usefulness: 3/5 Bandyopadhyay A, et al. Anesth Analg. 2023 May 1;136(5):913-919. Question and Methods: This is the first RCT looking at DSI vs RSI in adult trauma patients with no difficult airway features. All intubations performed by an anesthesia PGY2 with direct laryngoscopy. Findings: The primary outcome was incidence of peri-intubation hypoxia. They report […] The post Peri-Intubation Hypoxia After Delayed Versus Rapid Sequence Intubation in Critically Injured Patients on Arrival to Trauma Triage: A Randomized Controlled Trial appeared first on EMOttawa Blog ..read more

Posterior circulation ischemia accounts for approximately 20-25% of all ischemic strokes and is a significant cause of patient disability. The diagnosis can be extremely challenging as findings are often not typically focal. Posterior strokes are misdiagnosed more than 3x more often than anterior circulation strokes.1 Similar to anterior circulation strokes, posterior strokes are most commonly […] The post Posterior Circulation Strokes appeared first on EMOttawa Blog ..read more

In this post, we will sink our teeth into some details around venomous snake bites that all emergency clinicians should be aware of regardless of their location of clinical practice. Although the incidence of venomous snake bites in Canada is rare, this should be considered a HALO (high acuity low occurrence) presentation for which you […] The post Venomous Snake Bites: The Fangs, The Guidelines, The Myths appeared first on EMOttawa Blog ..read more

Methodology: 3.5/5 Usefulness: 3/5 Freund Y, et al. JAMA. 2023 Dec 19;330(23):2267-2274.  Question and Methods: Multicenter RCT involving comatose patients with suspected acute poisoning and GCS <9 compared a conservative airway strategy of withholding intubation versus routine practice for the primary hierarchical composite end point of in-hospital death, length of ICU stay, and length of […] The post Effect of Noninvasive Airway Management of Comatose Patients With Acute Poisoning: A Randomized Clinical Trial appeared first on EMOttawa Blog ..read more