MedWorm.com provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest items from the 'Straight Talk from the Stanford ER' source. Fri, 05 Dec 2008 10:29:25 +0100 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2008/11/let-pain-be-your-guide.html As a resident, I am constantly learning.  And, I think, so are most of the attendings that help guide me.  Every so often there comes a case that is as startling as a splash of cold water.  The dangerous disease lurking behind the benign presentation can keep the hairs on the back of your neck erect for months.  Something very similar happened just yesterday. In room 7 waited a 54 yo man with a... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2011970 Sun, 30 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2011970 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2008/11/taming-jealous-mistress.html “Medicine can be like a jealous mistress if you are not careful Sean….” These words were spoken to me 10 years ago by a much older, and at the time, possibly wiser Orthopedic Surgeon. The man was in the waning days of his career, and at 65 years old was currently working on his third marriage and had a 3 year old son. I listened to his words, but I could not fully appreciate the gravity of my... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1964622 Sun, 16 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1964622 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2008/11/desert-halloween.html Today is Halloween and I am celebrating it with a costume made of bandages. One roll of elastic tape can make you look like the mummy, a creature from Pans Labyrinth or just Robin. I am also celebrating it with over one hundred competitors from the race. Sometime between yesterday at 10 p.m. and today at 2 p.m., they finished a 54 segment of the race. That makes four marathons and one... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1926830 Sat, 01 Nov 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1926830 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2008/10/roaming-er.html It appears that life is more than blisters and foot care. Though that is an important part of a race that keeps people pounding their feet in 100 degree weather for most of the day. In my travels, I've noticed a need for medical care in the villages and for locals. Here, in the Sahara Desert, the Bedouins comprise most of the population and are isolated from the major hospitals in Cairo. At our... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1918450 Wed, 29 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1918450 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2008/10/blisters-and-more.html Day Two from www.racingtheplanet.com and I'm still practicing emergency medicine. Today's topic is the subungual hematoma. Another way to describe that is a bruise under the toenail. You might not have seen it if you haven't dropped a rock on your foot or ran two back-to-back marathons with five more to come. To highlight this affliction of long-distance runners, a particular, sweaty Englishman... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1915428 Tue, 28 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1915428 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2008/10/er-is-wide-open_27.html Emergency medicine became an easy choice for me once I learned how big emergency rooms could really be.  The best example is my current shift.  At this moment, I am writing an email from a satellite-enabled laptop from the Sahara Desert.  Finally, I feel like a real blogger, addicted to the internet and updates. This email is sent from www.racingtheplanet.com which is a race I am currently... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1912047 Mon, 27 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1912047 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2008/10/music-to-er.html Stravinsky composed the Rite of Spring with innovative asynchronus chords to the appreciation of many fans. Without nearly the same fan base, the emergency department plays a mash-up of Stravinsky records scratched by DJ Qbert. In room one there is constant beeping, every 0.5 to 1 seconds coming from two different sources, the highly resonant sounds cut through the voices of nurses talking, and... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1876804 Tue, 14 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1876804 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2008/10/brain-bucket.html The mild temperature and cloudless sky last Saturday lured people outside onto their bikes, horses, motorcycles and basketball courts. Unfortunately, even the most careful sports enthusiast can suffer an accident and several men and women wound up visiting our ED for a variety of bruises, lacerations, broken bones, and worse. By early afternoon, a motorcyclist with a lacerated spleen, truck... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1845435 Wed, 01 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1845435 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2008/09/heroic-measures.html ED thoracotomy is as far as we ever go to save a life. In fact, it is sometimes so far away that we now have rules to to prevent us from getting lost while performing this procedure. By that I mean, we do not do it unless there is at least a remote chance of saving a life so that we do not waste hospital resources and time when there is not even that distant chance of life. In essence, the... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1795083 Sun, 14 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1795083 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2008/08/divine-intervention.html It was a humid night as a storm quietly crept along the Santa Cruz Mountains. A soft, sultry steam seemed to float along the Emergency Department floor. I remember it being hot; I think the air conditioning was broken. Beads of sweat rolled down my Attendings forehead...It was that kind of hot. The chants had grown incessantly louder from her room. A young lady in her native garb was surrounded... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1730859 Sun, 24 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1730859 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2008/06/rustling-beneath-sheets.html “Sean, you have a new patient in Room 8…and there is something moving under the sheets,” stated the Nurse. I noticed she looked quite pale. I paused…”Okaaaay…..did you say something moving beneath the sheets?” “Yes,” she replied. “Do you know what it was,” I asked? “No but they were large, there were a lot of them, and they were moving….” “Did you look,” I asked with a look of bewilderment, and... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1522813 Sun, 15 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1522813 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2008/05/one-stop-shop.html I went into emergency medicine because I wanted to be able to help any person and do it anywhere. The field offered a body of knowledge I could use to help any patient that might enter the emergency department. Of course, it did not take long to realize how much my ED care relied upon other specialists, nurses, medical devices, and the vast resources of the hospital. In a neighboring blog Paul... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1429613 Tue, 06 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1429613 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2008/04/beyond-recognition.html She came to the Emergency Department, burned beyond recognition. She arrived in complete anonymity, and that is how she remains. I had just finished seeing a patient one early morning, when I heard the Paramedics enter the Emergency Room. I smelled her charred flesh, I heard her wheezing for every breath. This patient was supposed to be a "minor burn," as announced: they wheeled her past me, I... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1369826 Wed, 02 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1369826 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2008/03/shot-in-dark.html “There is a sniper out there,” the paramedics stated matter of factly as they wheeled our patient into the trauma bay. “This is Jose, he is 25 years old, he was walking to the store this evening when he heard a loud ‘pop’, and felt a sting on the left side of his neck. He is bleeding from a small puncture wound over the lateral portion of his neck, and there is noted swelling. He denies any... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1271622 Sat, 01 Mar 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1271622 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2008/01/attack-of-zebras.html An 80 year old mentor, and Physician once told me, “being a good doctor is not understanding the typical presentation of uncommon disease, but rather the atypical presentation of common disease.” I have tried to keep these words close as I have journeyed through Medicine…but it is difficult. We naturally want to gravitate, especially in Emergency Medicine towards the “Zebras,” or those disease... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1190173 Wed, 30 Jan 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1190173 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2008/01/leap-of-faith.html “Oh my God!” I exclaimed to my wife as we neared the restaurant. A nice day out with the family, driving to lunch, abruptly changed by our gruesome discovery. Our route had been rather fortuitous: I missed one turn, made another wrong turn, got stuck in traffic, then finally we neared the restaurant. I looked over casually…and there he lay, completely by happenstance: Half on, half off of the... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1153221 Tue, 15 Jan 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1153221 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2007/12/why.html “We should have known he was dying,” my Attending said to me with a somber look on her face. “These young guys always fight you when they are getting ready to die,” and that’s exactly what Rodney did-he fought us. One minute the picture of perfect health, the next, gone-his only memory the steady beep of a heart monitor, a trail of blood leaving the trauma bay. Rodney died in the operating... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1147609 Sun, 09 Dec 2007 05:00:00 +0100 1147609 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2007/12/superman-sean.html I am using this title not only because I think Sean is one of my favorite and most impressive people to work with but also in an effort to instigate Sean into writing about his recent experience as a first responder to a trauma in downtown Palo Alto. In a sad turn of events, someone jumped from a building and landed right next to him. I'll leave that story for him. However, I do have my own... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1147610 Thu, 06 Dec 2007 05:00:00 +0100 1147610 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2007/11/coming-soon-trauma-center-12.html We'll be hosting the next issue of the Trauma Center here next Tuesday, November 20th. The Trauma Center is a new blog carnival covering all aspects of emergency medicine. To be included, please send an email to lshevchik at healthline dot com by 12 midnight PST Sunday, November 18th. (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1147611 Thu, 15 Nov 2007 05:00:00 +0100 1147611 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2007/11/stroke-of-luck.html Last night, John was enjoying dinner with his wife. Suddenly he dropped his fork, a pain seared through his head. His right arm went limp, he tried to talk, but only incomprehensible slurs emerged. John at just 55 years old had suffered a massive, debilitating stroke. When he arrived at the Emergency Room a team of doctors and nurses had to quickly calculate if John was a candidate for a... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1147612 Mon, 12 Nov 2007 05:00:00 +0100 1147612 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2007/11/trauma-center-11.html Welcome to the inaugural issue of the Trauma Center, a blog carnival covering emergency medicine. I received an overwhelming number of submissions for our first time out and would like to thank everyone who sent in a submission. So without further ado, I bring you... Fat Doctor gives us a crash course in Japanese in this moving post about the benefits and limitations of virtual critical... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1147614 Tue, 06 Nov 2007 05:00:00 +0100 1147614 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2007/11/too-many-chefs.html I am now in Los Angeles visiting my sister and her newly born daughter. Immediately after work I drove straight for San Jose and Southwest Airlines to see the first new member in our small family. The stark transition of my last two hours in the emergency room to the joy and hope I immediately encountered in the delivery room has left my head spinning. The ER blog about boarding brings me back... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1147613 Tue, 06 Nov 2007 05:00:00 +0100 1147613 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2007/10/part-ii-where-do-we-go-from-here.html ...I prescribed Frank a potent steroid cream to help with the inflammation, as well as a moisturizing cream, and wrote down strict instructions as to how to care for his diseased skin. We gave him a list of free clinics in the area where he could be followed for his condition. “Frank, these medicines will cost about $30 dollars, but should last you for a couple of months….” “Thanks Doc he... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1147615 Wed, 31 Oct 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1147615 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2007/10/where-do-we-go-from-here.html Frank is an uninsured patient. I have seen him 4 times in the past 12 months for his chronic psoriasis-an autoimmune disorder which causes a thickening and irritation of the skin. His feet and hands are thick gloves of matted, cracked, peeling skin, which bleed and cause him a tremendous amount of pain. Even individuals with the best health insurance may have a difficult time dealing with this... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1147616 Sun, 14 Oct 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1147616 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2007/09/thank-you-grand-rounds-353.html Thank you Kevin M.D. for including D.O. Sean Donohue's What If... post in the fourth anniversary of Grand Rounds. (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1147617 Tue, 25 Sep 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1147617 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2007/09/another-oridinary-day.html “Doc this thing is stuck in my finger!” I was in the last hour of a 12 hour shift at Stanford University Hospital. Exhausted, I was hoping for a nice easy sliver, or laceration. As I looked down at Mr. J’s finger, I was shocked at what I saw: an Epinephrine Pen lodged in his thumb. Over the past 2 years at Stanford I have been mentally and physically training myself to be able to deal with any... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1147618 Thu, 06 Sep 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1147618 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2007/09/thank-you-parallel-universes-for-grand.html Thank you .Parallel Universes. for including Sean Donohue's post Saving Lives in Grand Rounds 3.50. (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1147619 Tue, 04 Sep 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1147619 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2007/08/saving-lives.html I knew it was going to be a long night. It had to be. The blood still poured from his ear. I had been working nights in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU), and our new trauma patient had just come to the floor. As I sat with Patrick watching the blood pour in, and pour out, I thought about his choice, his life. Patrick had two choices, to hold on or to let go. He chose to let go, a decision... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1147620 Wed, 22 Aug 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1147620 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2007/08/thankyou-eye-on-dna-for-grand-rounds-at.html Thank you to Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei and Eye on DNA for including Dr. Anil Menon's post "Drugs of Abuse" on Grand Rounds at the Beach. (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1147621 Tue, 07 Aug 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1147621 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2007/07/what-if.html The Emergency Department can be a very hazardous place to work. Over the course of one year I have seen random acts of violence, and have had friends exposed to various bodily fluids. I have seen a meal tray thrown at a nurse and unruly patients take swings at ER personnel, in fact one of my fellow residents was attacked and bitten by a patient in the hallway of a San Francisco hospital. Although... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1147622 Tue, 31 Jul 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1147622 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2007/07/drugs-of-abuse.html To pick up where my last post left off, I thought I would write about a more common case than LSD. That would be alcohol intoxication. SFGH's director of Emergency Medicine, Alan Gelb, noticed a decade by decade decline in LSD presentation to the ED but a consistent stream of alcohol related illness. Now that I look back at the past month at SFGH, I can hardly estimate the multitude of medical... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1147623 Mon, 30 Jul 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1147623 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2007/07/pandemonium.html "Fractals, fractals inside of fractals, and Asian doctors guarding the gates to eternity, little prisms, little prisms of gnomes, multicolored gnomes surrounding me, doctors with the keys, the key to eternity." I'll never forget those words that wished me goodbye as I left the hospital. The launch of my second year as an EM resident began at San Francisco General Hospital and did so in... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1147624 Wed, 11 Jul 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1147624 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2007/06/if-tree-fell-in-forest.html Mrs. B fell at her home 5 days ago. She was brought into the Emergency Department after a neighbor found her lying on the kitchen floor - she had failed to show for church bingo the night earlier - she had not missed that in 9 years! The paramedics brought her into room 13 on a gurney, she was still wearing her nightgown from the night of the incident. Mrs. B explained that she awoke the night of... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1147625 Fri, 29 Jun 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1147625 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2007/06/another-late-night.html In the days following my last post I have worked successive night shifts. I even voluntarily switched into someone's night shift to keep my string together. Today is my first day off so I went to a party with my sister, a party that ended long ago, bringing me to my topic sentence. I can't sleep. As a result of last week's schedule only a raging party would have made me feel normal. Because... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1147626 Sun, 10 Jun 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1147626 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2007/06/not-every-case-is-trauma.html It is 5:25 AM, Kaiser Emergency Department, and to my surprise I have time to write this blog. That means that all of our patients have been discharged--for a moment at least. This also illustrates that not everyone that comes through the door is a trauma. I thought it might be interesting to write a blog about a seemingly non-intense case to paint a more realistic picture of the emergency... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1147627 Fri, 01 Jun 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1147627 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2007/05/whos-trauma-is-it-anywayhttpwwwbloggerc.html My last day as a resident at the Stanford emergency department fell on a Friday night. With only a few hours to go before the 7 am change of shift and I began slowing down. In a matter of seconds that tiredness snapped away as I listened to the radio call from the EMTs, "We've got two 16 year old females, ejected from their car, travelling at speeds over 100 mph, one is combative, we are seven... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1147628 Tue, 22 May 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1147628 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2007/05/next-step.html My wife recently asked me “How do you deal with death on a daily basis?” I tried to answer this question as best as I could, but ended up stumbling over my thoughts. I wanted to convey my feelings about the personal effect death can have on anyone who is exposed to it routinely. Working in an Emergency Department, the tendency is to push the thought of death to a far corner of your mind and leave... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1147629 Fri, 11 May 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1147629 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2007/04/get-busy-living.html I will never forget the elderly lady in room 9. At 90 years-old Mrs. S had been living 2 months from hell. She had come to the Emergency Department because she had fallen at home, and was unable to walk-her “hip was killing her.” The month prior she had lost her husband of 70 years-count them… 70 years. One week after that she was walking outside, had fallen, and landed on her face, rupturing her... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1147630 Thu, 19 Apr 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1147630 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2007/04/end-of-life-choices.html Every day in the emergency department I work hard to cure disease and save people's lives. When patients come through the emergency department we start with the assumption that they wish to have all appropriate interventions that could save their lives. Often we are faced with an unresponsive patient, either from illness or trauma, who is unable to convey these wishes, so we aggressively try to... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1147631 Mon, 16 Apr 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1147631 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2007/04/breaking-falls.html This month it is my job to cover orthopedic injuries at the San Francisco General Hospital. Some of the stories are extraordinary and interesting like the bullet lodged in a femur that required a 3 hour operation for extraction or a police chase where the suspect jumped two adjacent buildings and subsequently fell 30 feet to break several bones. Instead of focusing on these I will describe... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1147632 Sat, 14 Apr 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1147632 http://www.healthline.com/blogs/emergency_room/2007/04/introduction-to-sean-donahue-do.html I am a 33 year old Colorado Native currently pursuing my second Residency in Emergency Medicine at the Stanford/Kaiser Program in Palo Alto, California. My journey through medicine has been long, varied, and filled with fortuitous events which inevitably shaped my path. I first experienced medicine when I was 6 years old and I visited patients with my father in the hospital. He was an Internist... (Source: Straight Talk from the Stanford ER) Straight Talk from the Stanford ER blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1147633 Sat, 07 Apr 2007 04:00:00 +0100 1147633