It's easy to spot a sick patient when they look sick. What's really hard is picking up on a sick patient when they look stable. In this EMEd lecture, we review tips on how to identify the sick patient in a sea of well-looking patients.
All tagged Intern
It's easy to spot a sick patient when they look sick. What's really hard is picking up on a sick patient when they look stable. In this EMEd lecture, we review tips on how to identify the sick patient in a sea of well-looking patients.
In this EM Ed lecture we discuss the mindset that is needed when approaching an undifferentiated patient. This is the mindset that is used in the emergency department given that most patients seen in the ED are undifferentiated when they hit the door. It is important to start with the default mindset that all patients in the emergency department is critical. You can always deescalate from this position after you evaluate the patient. Understand that you have limited data when determining whether your patient is sick or not sick. You are a detective trying to figure out what is going on. Rule out badness first.
In this EM Ed lecture we review the approach to the pulseless patient. We go over the the initial interventions that need to happen to get ROSC.
In this lecture we revisit the approach and work flow of patients that we are taught in medical school. The idea is to put the critical differential after the chief complaint. By doing so we can create a more efficient patient encounter in which the most important, life threatening, diagnosis are first evaluated for.
In this lecture we discuss wild cards. These are features in the history that tip the provider off that the patient may not present the same way as other patients with badness. As a result the provider should lower his/her threshold to perform a more thorough history, physical, and work up.