The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine

Date: November 22, 2023 Reference: Stopyra et al. Delayed First Medical Contact to Reperfusion Time Increases Mortality in Rural EMS Patients with STEMI. AEM November 2023. Guest Skeptic: Dr. Lauren Westafer an Assistant Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School – Baystate. She is the cofounder of FOAMcast and a pulmonary embolism and imple...

Date: November 2, 2023 Reference: Coventry et al. Which clinical features best predict occult scaphoid fractures? A systematic review of diagnostic test accuracy studies. Emerg Med J. Aug 2023 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Matt Schmitz is an Orthopaedic Surgeon who sub-specializes in adolescent sports and hip preservation. He will soon be transitioning out of the US military after a 20-year career in the Air...

Reference: Roland D, Munro A. Time for paediatrics to screen out sepsis “screening.” BMJ. June 2023 Date: Sept 12, 2023 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Damian Roland is a Consultant at the University of Leicester NHS Trust and Honorary Professor for the University of Leicester’s SAPPHIRE group. He specializes in Paediatric Emergency Medicine and is a passionate believer and advocate of FOAMed. Damian is also p...

Date: October 26, 2023 Reference: Jones et al. Opioid analgesia for acute low back pain and neck pain (the OPAL trial): a randomised placebo-controlled trial placebo-controlled trial. Lancet July 2023 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Sergey Motov is an Emergency Physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine, Maimonides Medical Center in New York City. He is also one of the world’s leading researchers on pai...

Date: October 20, 2023 Reference: Cai et al. Implementation of a Clinical Management Tool for Spinal Epidural Abscess Early Diagnosis. AEM October 2023. Guest Skeptic: Dr. Kirsty Challen is a Consultant in Emergency Medicine at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals. Case: You are in your group meeting and have heard about a case at a nearby emergency department (ED) where the diagnosis of a spinal epidura...

Reference: Brennan L et al. Time to change the reference ranges of children’s physiological observations in emergency care? A prospective study. J Paediatr Child Health. March 2023 Date: July 12th, 2023 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Vicki Currie is a paediatric emergency medicine registrar in the West Midlands in the United Kingdom. She is also a member of the Don’t’ Forget the Bubbles team where she serves...

Date: September 28, 2023 Reference: Jarman et al. Sex Differences in Guideline-Consistent Diagnostic Testing for Acute Pulmonary Embolism Among Adult Emergency Department Patients Aged 18-49. AEM September 2023 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Corey Heitz is an emergency physician in Roanoke, Virginia. He is also the CME editor for Academic Emergency Medicine. Case: During a shift in the emergency department (E...

Reference: Snelling et al. Ultrasonography or radiography for suspected pediatric distal forearm fractures. New England Journal of Medicine June 2023 Date: July 19, 2023 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Casey Parker is a Rural Generalist that includes in his practice emergency medicine, anesthesia, and critical care. He is also a fully-fledged ultrasonographer. Casey currently splits his time between Broome, a...

Date: August 30, 2023 Reference: Griffey et al. The SQuID protocol (subcutaneous insulin in diabetic ketoacidosis): Impacts on ED operational metrics. AEM August 2023 Dr. Suchismita Datta Guest Skeptic: Dr. Suchismita Datta. She is an Assistant Professor and Director of Research in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the NYU Grossman Long Island Hospital Campus. This is the last show for Seaso...

Date: August 20th, 2023 Reference: Milne WK, Challen K, Young T. Skeptics' Guide to Emergency Medicine Season #10 Book Dr. Kirsty Challen Guest Host: Dr. Kirsty Challen is a Consultant in Emergency Medicine and Emergency Medicine Research Lead at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Trust (North West England). She completed undergrad and postgrad training in North West England, acquiring a History of Med...

Date: August 14, 2023 Reference: Ma et. al. The third Intensive Care Bundle with Blood Pressure Reduction in Acute Cerebral Haemorrhage Trial (INTERACT3): an international, stepped wedge cluster randomised controlled trial. Lancet 2023 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Mike Pallaci is a Professor of Emergency Medicine (EM) for the Northeast Ohio Medical University, and an Adjunct Clinical Professor of EM for the...

Reference: Easter JS et al. Comparison of PECARN, CATCH, and CHALICE rules for children with minor head injury: a prospective cohort study. Annals of Emergency Medicine 2014. Date: July 10, 2023 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Joe Mullally is a paediatric trainee in the Welsh paediatric training program and interested in Paediatric Emergency Medicine. He is a student in the Paediatric Emergency Medicine Master...

Date: July 21, 2023 Reference: McDonald et al. Patterns of change in prehospital spinal motion restriction: a retrospective database review. AEM July 2023 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Chris Bond is an emergency medicine physician and assistant Professor at the University of Calgary. He is also an avid FOAM supporter/producer through various online outlets including TheSGEM. Case: A 42-year-old is struck in...

Date: July 21, 2023 Reference: Prekker et al. Video versus Direct Laryngoscopy for Tracheal Intubation of Critically Ill Adults. NEJM 2023 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Jeff Jarvis is the Chief Medical Officer and System Medical Director for the Metropolitan Area EMS Authority in Fort Worth, Texas, also known as MedStar. He is board certified in both Emergency Medicine and Emergency Medical Services. Jeff di...

Date: 15 June 2023 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Samina Ali is a pediatric emergency medicine physician, clinician scientist, and Professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Her research focuses on improving assessment and treatment of pain in children. She is an executive member of Pediatric Emergency Research Canada (PERC), pain content advisor for TREKK and fac...

Date: July 6, 2023 Reference: Hanula R et al. Evaluation of oseltamivir used to prevent hospitalization in outpatients with influenza: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Int Med 2023. Guest Skeptic: Dr. Anand Swaminathan is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Staten Island University Hospital. Managing editor of EM:RAP and Associate Editor at REBEL EM. Case: A 57-year-old woma...

Date: July 1, 2023 Reference: PATCH-Trauma Investigators and ANZICS Clinical Trial Group. Prehospital Tranexamic Acid for Severe Trauma. NEJM 2023. Guest Skeptic: Dr. Salim Rezaie is a community emergency physician in San Antonio, TX.  He is the Creator and founder of REBEL EM, a free, critical appraisal blog that tries to cut down knowledge translation gaps of research to bedside clinical practic...

Date: June 16, 2023 Reference: Reed et al. Pilot Testing Fentanyl Test Strip Distribution in an Emergency Department Setting: Experiences, Lessons Learned, and Suggestions from Staff. AEM June 2023 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Lauren Westafer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School – Baystate. She is the cofounder of FOAMcast and a...

Date: June 15, 2023 Reference: Rees CA et al. Intranasal fentanyl and discharge from the emergency department among children with sickle cell disease and vaso-occlusive pain: A multicenter pediatric emergency medicine perspective. American Journal of Hematology Jan 2023 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Amy Drendel is a pediatric emergency medicine physician and physician scientist at Children’s Wisconsin. She i...

Date: June 6th, 2023 Reference: Pines, Raja, Bellollo and Carpenter. Evidence-Based Emergency Care: Diagnostic Testing and Clinical Decision Rules 3rd Edition Dr. Jesse Pines Guest Skeptic: Dr. Jesse Pines is the Chief Clinical Innovation at US Acute Care Solutions and a Clinical Professor and George Washington University and Professor of Emergency Medicine at Drexel University. In this role, he f...

Date: June3, 2023 Reference: Kotani et al. Etomidate as an induction agent for endotracheal intubation in critically ill patients: A meta-analysis of randomized trials. Journal of Critical Care April 2023 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Amber Gombash is an emergency physician in Concord, NC. Case: You have a critically ill patient that you are preparing to intubate and wonder if the use of etomidate as your in...

Date: May 10, 2023 Reference: Harhay MO, et al. A bayesian interpretation of a pediatric cardiac arrest trial (THAPCA-OH). NEJM Evidence. 2023. Guest Skeptic: Dr. Kat Priddis is a paediatric emergency medicine consultant and trauma director at Watford General Hospital. She is part of the Don’t Forget the Bubbles team and faculty at Queen Mary University in London where she teaches part of the Paed...

Date: April 12, 2023 Reference: Edlow et al. Guidelines for Reasonable and appropriate care in the emergency department 3 (GRACE-3): Acute dizziness and vertigo in the emergency department. AEM May 2023 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Jonathon Edlow has practiced emergency medicine for nearly 40 years and is a Professor of Emergency Medicine at Harvard Medical School. His academic interest is avoiding the misd...

Date: April 25, 2023 Reference: Walsh et al. Revisiting “Excited Delirium”: Does the Diagnosis Reflect and Promote Racial Bias? WJEM 2023 Dr. Brooks Walsh Guest Skeptic: Dr. Brooks Walsh is a former paramedic, and is currently an emergency physician in the Bridgeport Hospital, Yale-New Haven Health in Connecticut. This is an SGEM Xtra episode. Brooks reached out to me recently to see if we could r...

Date: April 26, 2023 Reference: Han et al. The effect of telemental versus in-person mental health consults in the emergency department on 30-day utilization and processes of care. AEM April 2023 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Corey Heitz is an emergency physician in Roanoke, Virginia. He is also the CME editor for Academic Emergency Medicine. Case: You are moonlighting at the Veterans Administration emergenc...