Emergency Medicine Update Conference

Episode 66 Backboard and Collar Nightmares from Emergency Medicine Update Conference

In the first of our series on Highlights from North York General's Emergency Medicine Update Conference, Dr. Kylie Boothdiscusses Backboard and Collar Nightmares. The idea that backboards and c-spine collars prevent spinal cord injuries came from level 3 evidence in the 1960's and there has never been an RCT to prove this theory. In fact a Cochrane review on the topic in 2007 concluded that "the effect of pre-hospital spinal immobilisation on mortality, neurological injury, spinal stability and adverse effects in trauma patients remains uncertain" and that "the possibility that immobilisation may increase mortality and morbidity cannot be excluded". There have subsequently been several observational studies that describe increased morbidity and mortality associated with backboard and collars in a subset of patients. Dr. Booth argues that the time has long past that a major paradigm shift needs to occur toward a safer more rational use of backboards and collars in our trauma patients.

By Anton Helman|2021-03-30T16:46:31-04:00June 9th, 2015|Categories: Conference, EM Cases, Episodes, NYGH EM Update, Trauma|Tags: backboard, BB&C, c-spine, c-spine collar, Canadian c-spine rule, clinical decision rules, spinal cord injury|2 Comments

Best Case Ever 36 Tracheo-innominate Fistula

In this Best Case Ever with Dr. Scott Weingart, the brains behind EMcrit.org, we hear the devastating story of a tracheostomy gone bad. Dr. Weingart shares with us what he has learned about how to manage massive hemoptysis in tracheostomy patients, and in particlar, a step-wise approach to managing a tracheo-innominate fistula. We discuss the balance between providing maximal aggrressive critical care while maintaining a deep respect for the risks associated with the procedures we perform. Recorded at North York General's EM Update Conference 2015.

By Anton Helman|2017-02-05T14:58:12-05:00June 2nd, 2015|Categories: Best Case Ever, Conference, Ears Nose & Throat, Emergency Medicine, Medical Specialty, NYGH EM Update, Resuscitation|Tags: EMU, hemoptysis, Scott Weingart, tracheostomy|0 Comments

Episode 47: Evidence Based Medicine from NYGH EMU Conference 2014

Dr. Walter Himmel (the 'walking encyclopedia of EM') gave a fantastic talk from North York General's Emergency Medicine Update Conference in Toronto, which have edited into a podcast with key commentary and summaries. Dr. Himmel eloquently shows us, through absolutely stunning personal cases, how evidence based medicine can be appropriately or inappropriately applied in real practice, resulting in major outcome differences for your patients. He elucidates the importance of clinical experience, patient values and ED resources in helping apply the medical literature to your practice. He reviews the essence of critical appraisal, the hierarchy of evidence and how to keep up with the emergency medicine literature. The famous NINDS thrombolysis for stroke trial is distilled down to a few key considerations and the NEJM transfusion for upper GI bleed trial from last year is dissected, analyzed and then applied to Dr. Himmel's personal cases, to help us understand exactly how to apply the literature to our daily practice. Blog post and written summary prepared by Keerat Grewal, edited by Anton Helman July 2014

By Anton Helman|2021-03-30T17:06:00-04:00July 8th, 2014|Categories: Clinical Practice, Conference, EM Cases, Emergency Medicine, Episodes, Gastroenterology, Neurology, NYGH EM Update|Tags: critical apprraisal, EBM, evidence based medicine, GI bleed, NINDS, thrombolysis, Walter HImmel|4 Comments

Episode 45: NYGH EM Update Conference 2014

This past May in Toronto, the largest and, in my opinion, best Canadian EM conference, North York General Hospital's Emergency Medicine Update Conference, attracted 'Captain Cortex' himself, Stuart Swadron, a Toronto native to talk about his approach to vertigo, which highlights how not to miss a posterior circulation stroke. For the seventh year running the EMU conference was proud to have one of the worlds most well known EM educators, Amal Mattu who presented the most important Cardiology Literature from the past year. This podcast includes edited versions of their talks with commentary and summaries.

By Anton Helman|2023-02-06T12:56:19-05:00June 6th, 2014|Categories: Cardiology, Conference, Ears Nose & Throat, EM Cases, Emergency Medicine, Episodes, Neurology, NYGH EM Update|Tags: Amal Mattu, head impulse test, HINTS exam, LBBB, Sgarbosa, STEMI, Stuart Swadron, vertigo|3 Comments