You’re working in the ED on a warm spring day and a 22 year-old female is brought in by EMS for respiratory distress. She has a past medical history of Asthma and Depression. She has been compliant with medications at home. While you are starting her on duo-nebs and placing an IV to give steroids, you look at her home medication list and see Flucticasone (Flovent). Which category of asthma do you suspect this patient has based of her medications?
A. Intermittent
B. Mild Persistent
C. Moderate Persistent
D. Severe Persistent

Think just because you are a young, healthy physician that you are invinceable? Read this post and remember that we are vulnerable too...even more so because we often refuse to acknowledge when we are sick. This week's Advanced Practice topic comes to us courtesy of a Cooper EM alum. The story is told with full permission from the patient, his wife, though names are omitted to prevent any possible HIPPA entanglements!

A 76 yo female with a history of Stage IV breast Ca with metastasis to the lung presents to the ED with acute shortness of breath 10 hours after an outpatient placement of a right sided PleurX chest tube for drainage of recurrent malignant effusion......

Dr. Laura Di Taranti, M.D., discusses if steroid choice matters in acute asthma exacerbation. 

Part 2 of Back to Basics: Non-Invasive Positive Pressure Ventilation focuses on BiPAP settings.

A quick chart to review the basics of CPAP vs BiPAP

A 25 year old male presents with sudden onset of L chest and back pain while bench-pressing at the gym. There is decreased breath sounds on the left side. This isn't your typical msk chest pain! Read on for the imaging and management of this interesting pathology...

A patient comes into the ED with a high fever, shortness of breath, mild headache, diarrhea, and general malaise. It’s 2021… so naturally, the ‘COVID alarms’ start sounding in our heads. But if it were that simple, we probably wouldn't be posting about it, would we?

Last week, we covered the basics of adult pneumonia, focusing on community acquired pneumonia (CAP).  This week, will we cover the pathogens and treatment of hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) & ventilator-acquired pneumonia (VAP).