Tactical Medicine News Blog

It makes sense that the treatment of primary spnontaneous pneumothorax would lend itself well to outpatient management, since patients are usually young and otherwise healthy, and the mortality and morbidity from these air leaks are really very low. Most patients would rather be managed as an outpatient rather than admitted to hospital and sending these patients home would probably end up saving the system resources and money. In this month's Journal Jam Podcast on small bore chest tube and outpatient management of pneumothorax, the highlighted article that Anton Helman and Teresa Chan discuss is Voison et al. on the “Ambulatory Management of Large Spontaneous Pneumothorax With Pigtail Catheters.” We hear from Michelle Lin, Seth Trueger, Heather Murray and the lead author himself, Stephan Jouneau. Questions posed include: In what ways is the use of small bore catheters with Heimlich valves for spontaneous pneumothorax better than needle aspiration? Is it necessary to repeat a CXR after placement of the catheter? Who should follow up these patients after they are discharged from the hospital? How can we minimize kinking and dislodgement of the catheter? and many more..... [wpfilebase tag=file id=523 tpl=emc-play /] [wpfilebase tag=file id=524 tpl=emc-mp3 /] The post Journal Jam 2: Small Bore Chest Tube and Outpatient Management of Pneumothorax appeared first on Emergency Medicine Cases.

At the 2014 American College of Emergency Physicians Scientific Assembly, ACEP passed Resolution 44, officially recognizing Emergency Medicine Pharmacists as valuable members of the EM team. Nadia Awad (@Nadia_EMPharmD) summarized the importance of the resolution’s passage on the EMPharmD blog. The role of an EM Pharmacist has been outlined by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). In addition, Zlatan Coralic (@ZEDPharm), one of ALiEM’s regular contributors, framed the EM Pharmacist as the ‘ultimate consult service.’ The intent behind this post is not to discuss the role of the EM Pharmacist, but to highlight the rigorous training process through which most EM Pharmacists have traversed to work in this amazing specialty.

“Don’t delay engaging available palliative and hospice care services in the emergency department for patients likely to benefit.” This statement was one of ACEPs 2013 Choosing Wisely recommendations. How palliative care can be effectively and practically integrated into the ED, and which patients are likely to benefit from it is still being worked out at many institutions.1–4 However, it is clear that the time for palliative care in the ED has come.

Dr. Mike Stone (@BedsideSono) is well known in the medical education world especially in the field of bedside ultrasonography. In addition to being a professor for the Ultrasound Leadership Academy and Ultrasound Podcast team member, he also runs the Emergency Ultrasound Division at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital. Like Dr. Mike Mallin who tagged him from a previous How I Work Smarter post, many of us have been amazed at Mike’s ability to juggle so many roles and responsibilities at once. Here are some his secrets to success.

The Case of the Ebola Outbreak Ethics prompted some great discussion around the ethics of care for a patient who possibly has an Ebola infection. As usual, I was extremely impressed by the rich discussion that evolved over the week. We are now proud to present to you the Curated Community Commentary and 2 our two expert opinions. Thank-you again to all our experts and participants for contributing again this week to the ALiEM MEdIC series.