Posts in Trauma
Acute Care of the Electrocuted Patient

A 30-year-old male without significant past medical history presented as a code blue after high voltage electrocution. The patient was working as a technician servicing high tension wires when he had a witnessed electrocution. Bystander CPR was initiated immediately; EMS arrived shortly thereafter and found the patient pulseless and asystolic. ACLS was initiated and a laryngeal mask airway (LMA) was placed. On arrival in the emergency department, the patient was pulseless and asystolic…

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Pediatric Strangulation

Strangulation injuries are defined as any injury that results from a compressive force to the neck, leading to vascular and airway occlusion. Such forces might include hanging or strangulation (postural, ligature, or manual). Strangulation is implicated in 10% of violent deaths in the United States, while hanging is the second most common form of death by suicide…

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“To Do or Not to Do an Emergency Department (ED) Resuscitative Thoracotomy”: Alternatives to ED Thoracotomy at Non-Trauma Centers

While resuscitative thoracotomy and REBOA are often viewed as heroic procedures, both carry an exorbitant amount of mortality and morbidity, and few centers around the country are able to competently offer these options. It seems appropriate to consider alternatives, especially with the emergence of bedside ultrasound and its increasing applicability in the emergency setting. PEAC or US-guided PEAC may be more feasible, performable by mostly untrained staff, and may temporize bleeding to permit transfer to definitive care.

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