EM Basic

Join Dan McCollum as he discusses COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

  • What are the symptoms of this disease?
  • How is it spread?
  • What personal protective equipment is needed?
  • What are key elements of the history and physical exam?
  • Are there any treatments that help?

This is a rapidly evolving topic, so please use multiple sources, stay informed, and follow your local hospital's guidance as this disease develops.

Direct download: COVID_em_basic2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

Join Zac Hodges and Dan McCollum as they have a conversation about neonatal fevers with Dr. Kathryn McLeod, an experienced pediatrician at the Children's Hospital of Georgia.  We discuss the general approach to taking the history and physical exam of a patient with a fever under the age of 90 days.  Where did prior guidelines on the initial workup come from?  How did immunizations change the risk of serious bacterial infection?  What are some recent new approaches to the febrile neonate?  Join us as we discuss this and more!

Direct download: Febrile_Infant_EM_Basic1.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

Join physicians Eric Ring, Zac Hodges, and Dan McCollum as they discuss how to properly care for the pediatric patient with sickle cell disease.  Dr. Eric Ring is a pediatric specialist in Hematology and Oncology at the Children's Hospital of Georgia in Augusta, GA.  What are the critical elements of a history of present illness?  What red flags should you look for on physical exam?  What are the dreaded complications of sickle cell disease that you should be wary of?  Join us for these questions and more!

Direct download: SickleCellPodcast.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

Join Zac Hodges, Chris Watson, and Dan McCollum as they discuss the management of pediatric diabetic ketoacidosis, or DKA.  What are key findings on the history and physical exam that point to DKA?  What is the initial management of these patients?  How is the management similar and different than the management of DKA in adults?  Join us for the answer to this and more.

Direct download: PediatricDKA_Final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

Today's episode of the podcast is a myth busting on all the media reports about first responders overdosing by being exposed to fentanyl in the field by incidental contact. This is physically impossible and the misinformation out there has scared a lot of people, cost us lots of money in the form of hazmat responses and shutting down hospitals, and prevented overdose patients from getting the timely care they need in an emergency. This episode will systematically go through every argument why fentanyl is NOT harmful via incidental exposure and debunk these myths to give first responders one less thing to worry about while they do their frequently dangerous yet vital work.

Category:general -- posted at: 2:10pm EDT

EM Basic is finally back with a new episode. Today's episode will discuss neonatal resuscitation with Dr. Azif Safarulla, a neonatologist at Augusta University. Dr. Dan McCollum and Dr. Jessica Gancar interview Dr. Safarulla on the nuts and bolts of running a successful neonatal resuscitation in the ED. These can be one of the scariest populations we have in the ED so it's important to have a rational and logical approach to quickly assess and intervene on our smallest and youngest patient population.

Category:general -- posted at: 2:30am EDT

Just a few days after the new EM interns start, today's episode will talk about my advice to new EM interns.  Think of this as the "big picture advice" or a 30,000 foot view of how to approach EM residency.  I'll talk about 4 major big picture points to keep in mind as you start your residency.  This will go way beyond arrive early, stay late, and always keep learning and expand on some big picture ideas of how to function well as a new intern.

Category:general -- posted at: 2:30am EDT

Today’s episode is on the evaluation and management of sickle cell anemia in the Emergency Department. Dr Jared Walker, a third year EM resident at the University of Florida Jacksonville, has written and recorded this excellent review of sickle cell disease. This episode will discuss how to properly assess patients with sickle cell, how to order the right labs and imaging, what red flags to look out for, how to control sickle cell pain, how to catch the various complications of sickle cell, and proper patient disposition.

Category:general -- posted at: 1:30am EDT

Today's episode will discuss North American poisonous reptile bites with a focus on snake bites.  This episode was written and recorded by Dr. David Hansen, an active duty physician with the US Army.  It will review common presentations of snake bites, the relevant history and exam findings, the labs to order, how to decide when to use anti-venom and properly administer it.  There is also a bonus section on how to avoid snake bites in the wilderness and what to do if you are bitten by a poisonous snake.

Category:general -- posted at: 3:30am EDT

This episode is on hyperthermia- just in time for the warmer weather.  However, hyperthermia has many different causes so this episode will review them all.  Dr. Andrea Sarchi wrote this script which was recorded by Jacob Schriner, MS-3 at Emory University School of Medicine.  This episode will review the necessary history and physical exam findings, ordering the right labs and tests, and how to treat this condition to ensure the best patient outcomes.

 

Category:general -- posted at: 2:30am EDT