Author name: Blake Briggs

Using Focused Ultrasound to Catch Trauma’s Hidden Dangers: FAST and the Fatal 

Leave a Comment / Trauma /

-Case- A 27-year-old male is brought into the ED after a high-speed motor vehicle collision. He is tachycardic at 120 bpm and hypotensive to 85/50 mmHg. On primary survey, he has normal breath sounds bilaterally, but his abdomen is tender with mild distension.  As trauma resuscitation continues, you grab the ultrasound probe – time for […]

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Managing Beta-Blocker Overdose in the ED: Pressors, Insulin, and Glucagon – Oh My! 

Leave a Comment / Toxicology /

-Case- EMS brings in a 52-year-old man found unresponsive at home with an empty bottle of an unknown medication nearby. His wife reports he had been complaining of dizziness and weakness earlier in the day. On arrival, our patient is bradycardic at 38 bpm, hypotensive at 75/40 mmHg, and minimally responsive. His ECG shows sinus

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Diagnosing and Managing Preeclampsia in the ED: Pressure’s Rising

Leave a Comment / Genitourinary /

-Case- A 30-year-old woman at 34 weeks gestation arrives at the ED complaining of a pounding headache, blurry vision, and swelling in her hands and face over the past few days. Her blood pressure reads 168/102 mmHg, has bilateral 2+ pitting edema of the lower extremities, and she has 3+ proteinuria on urine dipstick. -Evaluation-

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Managing Acute Iron Poisoning in the ED: Rusty Disaster

Leave a Comment / Toxicology /

-Case- A frantic mother rushes into the ED with her 3-year-old son who was found next to an open bottle of his grandmother’s iron supplements. She’s not sure how many he swallowed, but she estimates “a handful.” The patient looks pale and lethargic, with intermittent vomiting. His vital signs show tachycardia and mild hypotension. Regardless

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No Lifeguard on Duty: Managing Drowning in the ED

Leave a Comment / Pediatrics /

–Case– It’s a hot summer afternoon when EMS rushes in with an 8-year-old boy who was pulled from a community pool after being underwater for an unknown amount of time. Bystanders report he was initially unresponsive but had spontaneous respirations after CPR was started. Now in the ED, he’s tachypneic, mildly cyanotic, and lethargic. His

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Closing the Deal: Mastering Suturing and Wound Closure in the ED

Leave a Comment / Trauma /

-Case- A 28-year-old bartender walks into your ED with a deep laceration on her forearm after an unfortunate run-in with broken glass while working. The wound is actively bleeding, but the edges are clean. She’s concerned about scarring and whether she’ll be able to use her arm without issues in the future.  When considering how

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Storm Warning: Recognizing Thyroid Storm in the ED

Leave a Comment / Endocrinology /

-Case- A 38-year-old woman with a history of Graves’ disease arrives at your ED. Her family says she’s been “acting strange” and vomiting for the past few days, and today, she’s confused and restless. On exam, she’s febrile to 101.5F, tachycardic to145, and her blood pressure is 165/95. She’s diaphoretic, tremulous, and clearly agitated. Diaphoresis,

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