Life in the ER
Intubation Tips, Part 1
March 23rd, 2017by: USACS
NO DESAT is an acronym created by Dr. Richard Levitan, a nationally recognized authority on airway management, for Nasal Oxygenation During Efforts at Securing a Tube. This very simple concept will allow you to have more time to intubate while maintaining adequate oxygenation. Although nasal oxygenation is a key component of hypoxia prevention during intubation, there are […]
read articlePosted in Hospitalist Medicine, Life in the ER, Skilled Nursing
Young Adult With Blurred Vision, Weakness
March 23rd, 2017by: USACS
Dr. Jordan Kramer, former VEP Healthcare Chief Medical Officer, saw an interesting patient in the ED recently and prepared the following case summary. A 21-year-old college student with no past medical history came to the ED recently with a chief complaint of blurred vision for two days and weakness for one day. The patient complained […]
read articlePosted in Great Patient Saves, Hospitalist Medicine, Life in the ER, Skilled Nursing
Seizures in Adults, Part 2
March 23rd, 2017by: USACS
Seizures in Adults – Status Epilepticus In Seizures in Adults, Part 1, we discussed the workup, treatment, and disposition of ED patients with unprovoked seizures, as well as the route of medication administration for ED patients with known seizures. Although we frequently encounter patients with seizures in the emergency department, it is less common to […]
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Meet Dr. Deepika Singh, a USACS Traveling “Firefighter” and a Mom
by: USACS
It’s the most counter-intuitive thing you could possibly expect to hear from a physician whose job is to travel, but it’s true: Dr. Deepika Singh spends more time with her family, and more quality time, than when she worked locally at only one site. Now an Assistant Medical Director with US Acute Care Solutions (USACS), […]
read articlePosted in For Residents, Life in the ER
Answering the Call at Summa Health’s Residency Program
by: Dr. Travis Ulmer
As emergency medicine physicians, we have more or less self-selected careers in which we “answer the call” when we are needed. Even so, this was not the kind of call I was expecting while on winter vacation with my family and friends. In the days just after Christmas this past December, I was in Hocking Hills […]
read articlePosted in Future of Healthcare, Hospital Partnership, Life in the ER
Checking Your Cognitive Biases in the ER
February 9th, 2017by: Dr. David Klein
Emergency clinicians are faced with a challenging task. During a busy shift, there can be significant pressure to evaluate and treat patients quickly, without giving each case the care it warrants. Thus, physicians often categorize patients early into a specific diagnostic pathway. At some point, however, with each evaluation, we must pause to assess the […]
read articlePosted in Life in the ER, Quality Efficiency Utilization
Physician Burnout Challenges Our Assumptions
December 7th, 2016by: Dr. Anoop Kumar
I probably set a record for the earliest a physician ever burned out: less than a year after earning my MD. Some may not call it burnout; it could just as well be called “internship.” I call it burnout because beyond the exhaustion and can’t-take-it-anymore, there was a gnawing sense that something fundamental was missing […]
read articlePosted in Future of Healthcare, Life in the ER
The Worst Call to Hear
by: Dr. Angelo Falcone
“8-month old cardiac arrest. ETA 10 minutes.” Of all the cases we see, a pediatric SIDS death is without question the most difficult to bear. I recently cared for a child who a few hours earlier was a happy and playful infant and now arrived in cardiac arrest, pale and lifeless. Despite our usual resuscitative […]
read articlePosted in General, Life in the ER
The Challenge and the Opportunity of ONE USACS
September 22nd, 2016by: Dr. Angelo Falcone
When I began my career some 25 years ago, my measure of success was pretty simple: take better care of my patients. The average emergency medicine clinician will treat 75,000 patients over a 25-year career. That’s a staggering number of lives to touch. At some point early in my career, I realized there were different […]
read articlePosted in Future of Healthcare, Leadership, Life in the ER
Medicine and Meaning: Thoughts On Change
November 23rd, 2015by: Dr. Anoop Kumar
Ever notice how quickly things can change in the ED? One minute things seem to be well under control, the next minute several alarms are going off, three nurses are simultaneously asking for you, and there are no inpatient beds available. How’d that happen so quickly? In emergency medicine, we are experts in change – […]
read articlePosted in For Residents, Future of Healthcare, Life in the ER