CCPEM Podcast Episodes

More than 1.5 million patients undergo endotracheal intubation each year in the U.S.  Endotracheal intubation can be complicated by hypoxemia, which is a known risk factor for peri-intubation cardiac arrest and death.  Rapid sequence intubation typically involves a delay of up to 2 minutes between the administration of sedative/paralytic medications and laryngoscopy.  In this podcast, we discuss a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine that suggests critically ill patients may benefit from bag-mask ventilation during the period between medication administration and laryngoscopy. 

Respiratory distress in the patient with a tracheostomy can incite fear in even the most seasoned emergency physician or intensivist.  In this episode, we review the initial management of respiratory distress in the trach patient, along with a review of common tracheostomy emergencies that are likely to present to your ED or ICU.

As bitter cold temperatures grip the Northeast, many struggle to stay warm and often resort to nontraditional methods of heating.  As a result, there has been an increase in the number of cases of CO toxicity.  In this episode, we cover what you NEED to know about diagnosing and managing the critically ill patient with CO exposure.

As EDs across the country strive to meet sepsis benchmark metrics, many have implemented a variety of screening tools. With the publication of Sepsis-3, qSOFA is the latest screening tool recommended for patients outside of the ICU setting.  In this podcast we review the derivation of qSOFA and discuss recent literature on whether qSOFA is any better than traditional screening tools.

Extracorporeal life support (ECLS) is being used with increasing frequency in many EDs across the US and across the World. In this podcast, we review the basics of ECLS, as well as discuss the current indications, contraindications, and complications of this critical therapy. In addition, we review some key pearls and pitfalls in the cannulation of patients for ECLS.

A plethora of great articles pertaining to the care of critically ill patients were published in 2018.  In this podcast, we review some of the key articles you NEED to know from the 2018 emergency medicine and critical care literature.

More than 200,000 patients per year undergo coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. Up to 20 percent of these patients will require readmission within 30-days.  Many of these patients present to our EDs with numerous complications that we must be able to recognize and treat.  In this podcast, John leads an outstanding discussion on the 3 most common complications and reasons these patients present to the ED.

Untreated pain, anxiety, and agitation have both short- and long-term consequences for our critically ill patients.  More importantly, it is well-known that patients remember the pain experienced during their critical illness.  New guidelines for the assessment and management of pain, agitation, delirium, immobility, and sleep were just published.  In this podcast, we review the latest guideline and discuss pearls and pitfalls of analgesia and sedation in the critically ill.