Background There are three primary fluids used for resuscitation, each contains varying amounts of potassium per liter (Table 1): 0.9% Sodium Chloride (normal saline) Lactated Ringer’s solution Plasma-Lyte A Additionally, these fluids contain markedly different amounts of o...
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A previous EM Pharm Pearl focused on the adverse events associated with the use of IV olanzapine for agitation. This pearl addresses concerns around using parenteral (IV or IM) olanzapine with parenteral benzodiazepines. Background Olanzapine has two FDA boxed warnings, one...
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The ability to safely and effectively sedate agitated patients in the emergency department (ED) is paramount to provide prompt medical care and protect ED staff. Intravenous (IV) antipsychotics are frequently utilized, instead of other routes, given their more rapid onset o...
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In the continued fight against COVID-19, a January 22, 2021 press release from the Montreal Heart Institute touted the potential of colchicine, citing results from the COLCORONA trial [1, 2]. We’ve learned to be especially skeptical of any study results reported only via pr...
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The 2020 ACLS guidelines provide recommendations on the medication-specific management recommendations for toxicology [1]. Although the name of the guidelines emphasize they are ‘Advanced,’ these are still relatively basic toxicology recommendations and largely apply to pat...
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The 2020 ACLS guidelines provide recommendations on the medication-specific management for arrhythmias including wide-complex tachycardia, regular narrow-complex tachycardia, atrial fibrillation/flutter, and bradycardia [1]. There are also our 2020 ACLS guideline summaries ...
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The 2020 ACLS Guidelines were published in October 2020 [1]. This first of 3 blog posts will focus on vasopressor and non-vasopressor medications during cardiac arrest. Part 2 will focus on specific arrhythmia management and Part 3 will focus on toxicologic interventions. S...
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