Tag Archives: emergency department

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Sarina Lalla is a medical student in class of 2020 at McMaster University.

 

 

 

When I was on an emergency medicine rotation, I asked for a room to tell a patient news about an X-ray. I was told that this was not a common practice given the scarcity of private rooms. It was advised that I inform them in the waiting room where other strangers sat nearby. I was also told to present cases to staff in small spaces in earshot of patients. This was unsettling to me, and pushed me to reflect on confidentiality and privacy breaches in the ED.

Canadian EDs are well-known to be overcrowded. With limited resources and a high patient volume, the space of a department is used to house a maximum of patients. Sometimes thin curtains are separating patients, or nothing is separating them at all. Often, they are placed in hallways and close to workstations where healthcare staff outside of their circle of care are working. ...continue reading →

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Anser Daud is a medical student at the University of Toronto. He enjoys writing about health advocacy and human rights issues.

 

“We’re dealing with a situation that’s not far from here, this is serious,” said Toronto Raptors sportscaster Matt Devlin as he interrupted the proceedings of the championship ceremony at Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square on June 17. Those present—perhaps 2 million people by some estimates—began to wonder if their worst fears were beginning to materialize. Videos on social media show ...continue reading →

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Jenna Webber is a Public Health & Preventive Medicine Resident (R2) at Queen's University

 

It’s 1 AM. The call comes in: VSA en route. Your team assembles.

Efficient, empathic, skilled — the team prepares for arrival. Roles are assigned, facts are reviewed, and questions are posed. The team is ready. You wait.

The patient arrives. Pulse check — asystole.  On to the chest. Transfer the patient to the bed. The team knows what to do — whether through simulations or past cases, everyone knows the algorithm. Everyone knows their role. With heads, hearts, and hands, everyone works on.

The clock marches. Tick. Tock.

 The skin is mottled. Bagging is going well, but intubation is tricky. Paeds and Anesthesia are on their way. Keep bagging. ...continue reading →

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Maggie Hulbert is a medical student in the Class of 2020 at Queen's University

 

Life on the Ground Floor
(Doubleday Canada, 2017)

Dr. James Maskalyk describes emergencies “as a sign of life taking care of itself” in his most recent memoir, Life on the Ground Floor. Throughout his book, the reader is left to wonder what exactly Maskalyk means by this. It is an ominous phrase that, at first glance, reads more like a repackaged “survival of the fittest” for emergency departments. However, through deft and emotional storytelling, Maskalyk urges us to look beyond this stark message of Darwinism and see that emergencies are the purest form of life helping life, or “life taking care of itself”. ...continue reading →

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Doctor Mom is a physician who lives in Ontario*

 

It’s March Break, which means last chance to do winter activities for some families in Canada. Unfortunately, I’m not Winter Fun Mom so I booked Son #2 - the only person in our family who is interested in winter sports - on a bus-in snowboarding camp. On day 1 I warned him to be careful and to try not to injure himself. On day 2 I forgot to warn him. So at 2pm on day 2 I got a call from the snowboard instructor to tell me that my son had fallen and would soon be on his way to hospital in an ambulance.

I know I should be more encouraging of adventure and more accepting of risk-taking in my boys. ...continue reading →

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Barbara Sibbald, News and Humanities editor for the Canadian Medical Association Journal, reads the CMAJ Humanities Encounters article "First, do no harm" (subscription required). The article is written by Dr. Sarah Tulk, a family medicine resident at McMaster University.

In the article, Dr. Tulk reflects on the time she treated a terminally ill patient in the emergency department.

Listen to the article reading:

...continue reading →

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Kevin DueckKevin Dueck
Class of 2016
Western University

(Behind a curtain in the Emergency Department)

He grabbed me...
how could I be so stupid.
Grabbed my ponytail...
cries
and... and slammed me into the doorframe.
No one was around... I curled into a ball... tried to protect my head.
wipes tears
I was almost to the door... Oh God!
With my training... why didn't I see it coming? ...continue reading →

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This week:

Interview with Dr. Dennis Ko, interventional cardiologist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto and senior scientist with the Institute of Clinical Evaluative Sciences. Dr. Ko and colleagues found that patients discharged after an emergency department visit for chest pain were less likely to be seen within 30 days by a primary care physician or cardiologist if they had known cardiac or cerebrovascular conditions, as well as other comorbidities. The paradoxical finding that patients at higher risk for adverse events were less likely to receive follow-up suggests the need for a better strategy to improve transition of care in this context.

Read full article.

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