TOTAL EM - Tools Of the Trade and Academic Learning in Emergency Medicine

Our friendly evidence based medicine (EBM) PA guru, Adrian Banning, joins us again to talk about being a lifelong learner. It is a "hot topic" for PAs and other medical providers, but what does it actually mean and how do we become a lifelong learner? To help us with these questions and more, Adrian joins us for a detailed discussion.

Did you know that many of the aircraft that are being used in helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) in the United States are not using advanced safety features that could help save the lives of crews and patients in an accident? We are joined today by Karen Mahany who has taken it upon herself to make a real change when it comes to safety in HEMS.

​It is so tempting to want to share stories of the things we see, especially in emergency medicine. Maybe we just want to tell the world about something strange, or maybe we are being more innocent and want feedback or to answer questions. However, patient confidentiality is a major issue and in the United States specifically we run into the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).

​It is so tempting to want to share stories of the things we see, especially in emergency medicine. Maybe we just want to tell the world about something strange, or maybe we are being more innocent and want feedback or to answer questions. However, patient confidentiality is a major issue and in the United States specifically we run into the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).

Our guest, Eric Steffel, is a paramedic that reached out wanting to discuss active exhalation. It goes by many other names including "external chest compressions" or "lateral chest compressions" as some sources have indicated. We decided not to use the term "compression" though because this can quickly lead to someone thinking this is a chest compression similar to what is performed in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Eric prefers "active exhalation" and (understanding its potential limitations) is what we use for this podcast to define this procedure.

​There is also some source of news out there that is contributing to misinformation. As we have talked about before, misinformation is a daily presence but usually we can quickly fact check a source. Most of these are from sources where the credibility is already questionable. However, what happens when a major media source misrepresents information in a way that is potentially damaging to medicine and the patients we care for?

We have Tyler Christifulli from FOAMfrat back on to discuss two acronyms (we each developed one) for post-intubation agitation and sedation. We also talk about the utility of acronyms in general. As a fair warning, there is some explicit language in the podcast itself. However, this is not only a great post but is entertaining and sure to help you better understand the topic.

Building off of our last post with Harrison Reed talking about communication, we are moving to a very similar and related topic this time talking about cognitive stop points with paramedic Tyler Christifulli. He also has his own blog and podcast called FOAMfrat and one we have actually featured on our website. Our next post will also have Tyler back discussing acronyms and how they tie in with these cognitive stop points so make sure to check that, as well.

Critical care PA Harrison Reed joins us to discuss communication in critical care resuscitation by breaking it down into phases along with talking about the pearls and pitfalls when it comes to these challenging situations.

​Fever can be scary. It brings in many parents and even adults no matter the time of day. However, there is a lot of misinformation regarding fevers which brings about this important discussion. Using available evidence, we are going to talk about fevers and some of the main myths versus the actual evidence. As always, with topics like these, it is worth remembering that this does not replace clinical judgment and is meant to be informational. Any time there is concern, it should be appropriately evaluated and managed.