Dr. Dave Pledger on CST
Our own Dr. Dave Pledger heads this week’s VCH News!
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APPtitude!
Welcome to the second edition of APPtitude.
Most of you are probably already familiar with PediStat, another app by QxMD (there is no sponsorship, I promise). This app is the Broselow tape for the 21st century. It is extremely intuitive, and highly useful at the bedside for physicians you work frequently with children, and more importantly for us, those who see them rarely.
The first screen allows you to enter either the patient’s age, weight, Broselow colour or even length.
Then you’re given a short list of categories that make it easy to find the exact drug dosing that you want for your patient. No more calculating and re-calculating doses on the back of a glove!
This is one of the few apps I paid money for. It is currently $3.49 available for iPhone and Android.
APPtitude!
Welcome to a new feature of the VGH website. On a bi-monthly basis, we’ll post recommendations and reviews of apps that may be of interest to the emergency physician. Most will be medically related, but some will be favourites that just may make your life a little easier overall.
This week, we’re going to start off with a very common app that most emergency physicians are aware of.
Read by QxMD
This app is perfect for anyone who has ever thought “I wish I could just get sent the most relevant articles out of all of the journals I’m interested in, without having to subscribe to every one and read through them all.” That’s exactly what this app does. When you first open it, you can choose journals, specialities, or “collections” to follow. Collections are created by users, and may have a more specific focus (ie Trauma or Anticoagulation).
There is a huge article database powered by PubMed, and it is easy to access to full text by setting up your UBC account. Articles can also be saved for later consumption and reference, and tagged to help keep articles organized. There is also an option for commenting and favouriting articles, which means that when you open the app, the “featured papers” in your specialty show up first, giving you first glance at the articles that are currently most relevant and most discussed among your peers.
New ACLS Guidelines Released
On October 15th, the 2015 Update on ACLS was released. Every 5 years ILCOR (International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation) reviews the evidence behind basic and advanced cardiac life support principles and the guidelines are updated. These include algorithms for BCLS, ACLS, and management of MI and stroke.
The full update can be found in the November 3rd edition of Circulation, but the group at BoringEM have put together an infographic summarizing the changes.
2015-AHA-Guideline-Update-Infographics-Complete-Set
UBC Sim in the News!
Medical simulation comes to our distributed site in Victoria.
New communication tool can improve patient safety for patients taking Chinese herbs
Our own Dr. Kendall Ho supervised a project which has just been written up in the BC Medical Journal and the Vancouver Sun. Students developed a communication tool that patients or physicians can use to reduce the potential for drug interactions with traditional Chinese herbs and medications.
The BCMJ article can be see here:
And the full story can be read here:
The communication tool can be seen here:
Congratulations to VGH Authors!
Congratulations to Dr. John Tallon, Dr. Roy Purssell, and Dr. Jesse Godwin on their contribution to the newly published book “Canadian Injury Prevention Resource”.
Dr. Tallon co-authored Chapter 3.9: Health Services – Access to Trauma Care.
Drs. Purssell and Godwin co-authored Chapter 4.3: Poisoning.
This new text is the compendium to the Canadian Injury Prevention Curriculum. It can be viewed online or downloaded here: http://www.parachutecanada.org/downloads/research/Canadian_Injury_Prevention_Resource-LR.pdf.
How Fast is Fast Enough?
An interesting commentary on the utility of using patients seen per hour to manage ED workflow.
http://emergencymedicinecases.com/emergency-physician-speed-how-fast-is-fast-enough/
Inaugural VGH ED Summer BBQ!
Thanks to all those who helped to organize the very successful VGH Emergency Department BBQ! Staff from all disciplines came together to share burgers, snacks, games, and an amazing surprise BBQ-themed dessert!
New skills and competitive spirits were discovered through activities like Spike Ball, bocce ball, and hooping.
Thanks to everyone for coming out and spending time together outside the ED. See you next year!
VGH Team Conquers Fat Dog!
On the weekend of August 14th, an interdisciplinary team from the VGH ED competed in the Fat Dog Ultra relay. Members battled rain, sleet, darkness, hail, and freezing temperatures to race 190 Km across the backcountry of Manning Park.
Congrats to the team for successfully completing the race and setting a course record for the most fun!
