Tamingthesru
EmergencyKT Highlights: Evaluation and Treatment of Pneumonia
Empiric antibiotics for pneumonia in the Emergency Department is complex, and the choice only gets harder when it’s 3:00 am with 15 patients in the lobby. Fear not, the Suspected Pneumonia Protocol is here to help. Here are the highlights:
Grand Rounds Recap - 11/13/14
SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral, & Treatment) for Substance Abuse
Why should we care?
- Prevalence of this disease is impressive with greater than 33,000 deaths attributed to alcohol in 2012 alone (287,000 MVC's in Ohio alone attributable to alcohol)
- Medical problems attributable to alcohol use costs the US $100,000,000,000 annually (from health care bills to lost productivity)!
- Approximately 33% of inpatient admissions in a country hospital population were attributable to alcohol
- One in five Americans can be defined as at risk drinkers
The Opioid Prescription Epidemic and the Role of the Emergency Medicine - Water Cooler Recap
80% of heroin users start by abusing prescription medications – this is OUR problem
Prescription medication overdose is now the leading cause of death from injury and the number of deaths from drug overdoses has increased every year since 1999. Estimates suggest between 6 and 12 million Americans receive prescription drugs either without prescription or without the intent of relieving pain. This article focuses on the ED provider’s role in this epidemic and offers strategies for improving training and education surrounding these medications. While heroin abuse tends to draw more attention, it is important to note that 80 percent of heroin users started their addiction by using prescription medications.