Lessons from Haiti: Don’t Take Hot Showers and Drinkable Water for Granted
By Scott Kurpiel, MD
Practicing medicine in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, was an amazing experience that gave me a tremendous amount of perspective on health care and life. I was fortunate as the trip leader to recruit a well-rounded team of health care professionals, including 10 nurses, six doctors, two EMTs, and one sports rehabilitation therapist. We worked in a gated hospital that was secured by armed guards. The complex contained Haiti’s only full-body CT scanner, which was only available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Most patients were seen urgently, and were dispositioned from a two- to four-person triage tent.
Arriving a...
Source: Going Global - August 7, 2013 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
Lessons from Haiti: Don’t Take Hot Showers and Drinkable Water for Granted
By Scott Kurpiel, MD
Practicing medicine in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, was an amazing experience that gave me a tremendous amount of perspective on health care and life. I was fortunate as the trip leader to recruit a well-rounded team of health care professionals, including 10 nurses, six doctors, two EMTs, and one sports rehabilitation therapist. We worked in a gated hospital that was secured by armed guards. The complex contained Haiti’s only full-body CT scanner, which was only available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Most patients were seen urgently, and were dispositioned from a two- to four-person triage tent.
Arriving at th...
Source: Going Global - August 7, 2013 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
MKSAP: 78-year-old man with worsening heart failure
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.
A 78-year-old man was admitted to the hospital 5 days ago for worsening heart failure.
On physical examination at admission, temperature was normal, blood pressure was 150/88 mm Hg, pulse rate was 108/min, and respiration rate was 22/min. There were bibasilar crackles and dullness to percussion at both posterior lung bases. Jugular venous distention, an S3, and lower extremity edema were present. Chest radiograph revealed cardiomegaly, vascular congestion, and moderate-sized bilateral pleural effusions. He was ma...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - June 29, 2013 Category: Family Physicians Tags: Conditions Heart Source Type: blogs
New CareFusion Drainage Products for Ascites and Pleural Effusions
CareFusion recently released three new products for managing of drainage of fluids in patients with ascites and pleural effusions.With the PleurX drainage system, patients can evacuate liquids on their own, helping to avoid going through paracentesis and thoracentesis procedures. If the procedures are necessary, a smaller Thora-Para device is now available, offering easier access to built-up fluids and providing echolocation for the needle tip.Read More (Source: Medgadget)
Source: Medgadget - April 26, 2013 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Editors Tags: Surgery Thoracic Surgery Source Type: blogs
Chest Tubes Deserve an Unnecessary Roughness Penalty
Chest tube placement borders on the barbaric. I am specifically referring to the large-bore chest tubes that continue to be placed in emergency departments for spontaneous and iatrogenic pneumothoraces. I have personally performed or watched the trauma service place chest tubes, and wondered why large-bore chest tubes remain our tool of choice.
The insertion process is painful. No matter how much anesthesia is administered, the patient still screams out in pain as the pleura is violated or the opening is expanded by blunt dissection. Aren’t the smaller, kinder, gentler drainage catheters equally effective as the large...
Source: M2E Too! Mellick's Multimedia EduBlog - February 8, 2013 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
