Jul 28, 2025
Contributor: Taylor Lynch, MD
Educational Pearls:
Dilutional Hyponatremia:
- Occurs when there is an excess of free water relative to sodium in the body.
- Causes a falsely low sodium concentration without a true change in total body sodium.
Commonly seen in DKA:
- Hyperglycemia raises plasma osmolality.
- Water shifts from...
Jul 26, 2025
Contributors:
Col. (Dr.) Stacy Shackelford
Dr. Sean Keenan
Paramedic Alan Moreland
Dr. Chris Tems
Kara Napolitano
From military-inspired trauma protocols to behavioral health alternatives and cardiac resuscitation, EMS is evolving fast. Our Medical Minutes from EMSAC highlight the growing need for prehospital providers...
Jul 21, 2025
Contributor: Jorge Chalit-Hernandez, OMS4
Educational Pearls:
- What is the toxic dose of acetaminophen?
- 7.5 grams, in an adult. The safe daily limit is 4 grams in an adult with a normally functioning liver.
- This is equivalent to fifteen 500mg pills.
- What are the symptoms of acetaminophen toxicity?
- First 24 hours,...
Jul 14, 2025
Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD
Educational Pearls:
- Many trauma patients are placed on oxygen via non-rebreather
- A large, multicenter, controlled trial evaluated the outcomes of oxygen administration in trauma patients
- Patients were randomized to two groups
- 1. 8-hour restrictive oxygen strategy: only receiving...
Jul 7, 2025
Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD
Educational Pearls:
- Prehospital seizures are typically managed with intramuscular midazolam (Versed)
- Seizures theoretically involve the NMDA pathway, and ketamine is a potent NMDA antagonist
- A recent retrospective cohort study analyzed a Florida EMS protocol that uses ketamine in seizures...