Grand Rounds Recap 1.15.20

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Grand Rounds Recap 1.15.20

We had another great week in Grand Rounds, starting with a QI/KT presentation from Drs. Hunt and Pulvino about Tumor Lysis Syndrome. Next, Dr. Meigh gave a great presentation about TORCH infections and Dr. Spigner gave his R4 Capstone lecture on pre-hospital sepsis care. We welcomed a guest speaker, Dr. Henning, from podiatry who discussed a number podiatry emergencies. Finally, the week wrapped up with a simulation of an inferior STEMI in trauma.

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Prehospital Stroke Triage

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Prehospital Stroke Triage

Over the past 5 years, there has been a dramatic expansion of the treatment strategies used to treat patients with acute ischemic stoke. As some of these treatments involve specific resources only available at certain institutions, appropriate triage of patients in the prehospital environment is becoming ever important. On one hand a patient who would best benefit from endovascular treatment triaged to a center without that capability will undoubtedly suffer a delay in care. On the other hand, over-triaging stroke patients to a comprehensive stroke center could overwhelm the resources of that center, potentially impacting the care of patients at that center. In the podcast below, we talk with Dr. Jason McMullan of the UC EM Division of EMS and Dr. James Li, PGY-3 who both have recent publications focusing on this phase of patient care.

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Is a Bag Enough?

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Is a Bag Enough?

Trauma scene flights are often the first thing people think of when they think of Helicopter EMS. Although we know that HEMS and Critical Care Transport involves much more than just scene flights, they are still a critical part of most HEMS programs’ mission and capabilities. In addition, many flights are “modified scenes” or “scene intercepts,” meaning the HEMS crew meets the EMS crew at an outlying hospital helipad, or arrives shortly after the patient’s arrival to an under-resourced ED. Many of these patients are critically ill, and a subset will require intubation and ventilation. Once intubated is bag valve ventilation enough? Or should all these patient’s be placed on a mechanical ventilator?

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The Head and the Heart: Hemodynamic Derangement in Isolated TBI

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The Head and the Heart: Hemodynamic Derangement in Isolated TBI

We know that alterations in hemodynamics do not only occur in hemorrhagic shock.  Both obstructive (such as from tension pneumothorax) and neurogenic shock (for example, from a spinal cord transection), can result in hemodynamic compromise that would not be corrected by blood product administration.  There have been some studies that have shown isolated traumatic brain injury (TBI) can also cause hemodynamic derangements. This article looks at a paper which attempts to examine the incidence of cardiovascular instability in patients with TBI.

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Air Care Series: Burns Management

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Air Care Series: Burns Management

Severely burned patients can be intimidating for even the most seasoned critical care transport providers. These patients often require aggressive resuscitation and multiple procedures in a relatively short period of time. It is often easy for providers to become overwhelmed, necessitating an algorithmic approach to the patient, similar to traumatically injured patients, is crucial. By advancing through the primary survey and stabilizing the patient while starting aggressive but goal directed crystalloid resuscitation, critical care transport providers can bring ICU level care to one of the sickest pre-hospital patient populations.

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When That 1% Makes All the Difference

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When That 1% Makes All the Difference

Just prior to SMACC (the Social Media and Critical Care Conference), we were lucky enough to have Dr. Brian Burns of Sydney HEMS stop through Cincinnati.  In the video below you can see his lecture on when the 1% makes all the difference.  Dr. Burns talks about how we should strive for excellence in prehospital care not simply meeting minimum standards.  Watch the lecture below to hear Dr. Burns discuss the importance of incremental changes, cognitive offloading, checklists, and continuous improvement and training through simulation.

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Flights - A Stab in the Dark - Curated Comments and Expert Commentary

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Flights - A Stab in the Dark - Curated Comments and Expert Commentary

Thanks to everybody who contributed to an excellent discussion of the care of the patient on our second “flight.”  If you didn’t get a chance to check out the case and the discussion, check it out here.  Below is the curated comments from the community and a podcast from Dr. Hinckley and Flight Nurse Practitioner Jason Peng

Q1 - Walk through your initial assessment of this patient.  What are the critical aspects of the assessment of this patient?

In response to this question, most everybody wanted to first act on the bleeding wound in the patient’s right antecubital fossa.  As explained by Dr. Renne, “I would want to be systematic but efficient, probably using a C-ABCD approach to these kind of critical patients, with the first C being any sort of life-threatening but "C"ontrollable hemorrhage.”  Dr. Renne also had a fine point with regards to checking for other potential, as of yet unseen, injuries.  This is a patient with multiple stab wounds, it is crucial to conduct a quick, but thorough search for stab wounds to the back, axilla, groin, and/or other locations where significant blood loss could be caused by a stab wound.

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Prehospital TBI - Beyond the "Code"

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Prehospital TBI - Beyond the "Code"

Of the injuries that one will care for in the pre-hospital setting, traumatic brain injury is one of the most challenging.  Quite often, more than one organ system has been injured and they require rapid, thoughtful, and precise management of their airway and hemodynamics.  In addition, TBI patients require frequent reassessment to detect progression of the primary neurologic injury.  This is easier said than done in the dynamic, unpredictable, and resource-limited prehospital environment.

To help simplify their care, the following “Code of Care” forms the core principles that characterize optimal TBI care:

  1. NO Hypoxia (SpO2 < 90%) – therefore, apneic oxygenation for all TBI patients
  2. NO Hypotension (sBP < 90 mmHg) – greatest iatrogenic risk is with induction and provision of positive pressure ventilation
  3. Blown pupil -> Hyperosmotic therapy + Hyperventilate
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