The Death of MONA in ACS: Oxygen
The Death of MONA in ACS: Oxygen by Salim R. Rezaie, MD Background: The first report for supplemental oxygen for angina was in 1900, and since then oxygen therapy has been a commonly used treatment of patients with ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI). The reason for this is the belief that supplemental oxygen will increase […]
In the Pipeline: Head Up CPR in OHCA?
Background: Head up (HUP) CPR is a new concept to me. The theory behind HUP is it allows for venous blood to drain from the brain to the heart thereby decreasing intracranial pressure and lowering the arterial/venous pressure waves which potentially could concuss the brain with each compression. Additionally, conventional CPR increases vascular pressure in […]
Arterial Lines: Let’s Take This Up a Dicrotic Notch
If you haven’t been able to tell by now, hemodynamics is one of my favorite critical care concepts. In a previous blog article, “Arterial Lines 101”, I discussed the basics; what your A-line should look like, what each point means, and how to tell if you are over or under dampened. This blog will kick […]
Cause of Death: A Broken Heart…
By: Jaren Jarrell FP-C, CCEMT-P, NRP From country lyrics to inspirational quotes, “dying from a broken heart” is a widespread line. But, who would have thought that you can actually die or suffer from heartache? I am not talking about the type of despair that Spencer and Heidi from “The Hills” caused us in 2010. […]
The Right Ventricle: Getting to Know Her
(Disclaimer: the following series is meant to be a light-hearted, silly way to learn about the right ventricle while poking fun at the awkwardness of dating. There will be goofy generalizations made about men AND women; none of them are meant to be offensive. Please laugh at my jokes. And learn, but mostly just laugh.) […]
The Right Ventricle: Your First Big Fight
The Right Ventricle: Your First Big Fight You had a great first date. Things are progressing nicely, but then gosh dang COVID-19 hit and made life hard for everyone. Your new girlfriend is feeling the pressure. She’s working more hours than usual at Five Guys, there is a national shortage of ground beef which further […]
It’s Shockingly Simple | Part 1
Many times as healthcare professionals, we get wrapped up in the complicated concepts of emergency medicine and critical care. It’s important to frequently train on the fundamentals and stay up to date on the latest evidence-based practice, or else you could find yourself on a seemingly simple patient assignment and you’ve forgotten how to […]
How To Make Zombies: Part I
Advances in Cardiac Arrest Care The most critical call we have as EMS providers is the one with the worst outcomes. Cardiac arrest care has been much the same for quite a while, because it’s hard to measure what works in those cases, and care guidelines lag years behind new evidence. For instance, “Heads-up CPR” […]
How To Make Zombies: Part II
The Fun Stuff In Part 1, we looked at what happens to the body during a zombie apocalypse. Whoops, sorry, cardiac arrest. Impedance Threshold Devices and Heads-Up CPR were mentioned as being very effective in CPR, and it’s time to get to the fun stuff. I’m going to try really hard to not bore you […]
How To Make Zombies: Part III
Airways are Sexy I was at an airway lecture as a baby medic and the instructor said “Airways are sexy. It’s the sexiest, most badass thing we get to do.” Sounds goofy, but he was right: airways are sexy. So, we’ve talked about cardiac arrest physiology, ITDs, Heads-up CPR, and more. All that stuff […]