A 46-year-old female presents to the ED complaining of fatigue, anorexia, and weight loss over the last two weeks. She had the “stomach flu” a couple weeks ago and thought she was getting over it. But now she feels very weak and seems to be vomiting again. On presentation, the patient will have mild hypothermia, hypoglycemia, and hypotension. The team will have to initiate fluid resuscitation and an initial workup. The patient’s blood pressure won’t respond to 4 L of IV fluids, forcing the residents to work through the differential diagnosis of shock. Eventually, they will receive critical VBG results that indicate a mild metabolic acidosis, hyperkalemia, and hyponatremia. The team will need to treat the hyperkalemia and initiate hydrocortisone therapy.
Author: kcaners
Coarctation of the Aorta
A 2-week-old neonate presents in shock requiring the learner to implement an initial broad work-up. The patient will also be hypoglycemic, and will seize if this is not promptly recognized. Physical exam and CXR findings will suggest coarctation of the aorta as the likely cause, and the learner should recognize the need for gentle fluid boluses and a prostaglandin infusion. Unless learners anticipate appropriately and intubate the patient prior to beginning the prostaglandins, the infant will become apneic after starting the infusion and require intubation.
Multi-trauma case: burn and head injury
The case will begin with the arrival of patient from a house fire who has 30%TBSA burns. The team will be expected to recognize the need for intubation and fluid resuscitation. After successful intubation, a second patient will arrive from an altercation outside a bar. He appears to have a blunt traumatic head injury after being repeatedly kicked. The team is expected to recognize hypoglycemia in the context of a minor head injury and provide immediate glucose replacement. During the management of the head injured patient, the burn patient will continue to by hypotensive. The team will need to recognize the possibility of CN toxicity. The patient will also become more difficult to ventilate and will require an escharotomy.
Holiday Break
We're taking a short break this week for the holiday season. We'll be back to our regular schedule on January 17th with a special treat: a multi-patient trauma case!!
Massive Pulmonary Embolism
A 46 year old male with a cast on his left leg from a bad ankle fracture presents to the ED complaining of pleuritic chest pain and shortness of breath. The team will take a history and start workup when the patient will suddenly state he’s “not feeling well” and then arrest. The team will perform ACLS consistent with the PEA algorithm and should consider IV thrombolytics. If IV thrombolytics are administered, the patient will have ROSC.
Postpartum Hemorrhage and NRP
The team receives advanced notification from EMS about a woman who is imminently delivering. Upon arrival, delivery will be uncomplicated, but the neonate will appear lifeless. Neonatal resuscitation should be initiated. Eight minutes into the neonatal resuscitation, the team leader will be notified that the mother continues to hemorrhage and is becoming hypotensive. They must begin concurrent workup and management of the mother while continuing to run the neonatal resuscitation. Second & third line medical therapies for uterine atony will be needed, and also manual uterine exploration and packing. Early consultation should be made to NICU, ICU, OB, and Interventional Radiology.
Toxic Alcohol Ingestion
A 46 year-old male presents with a GCS of 3 after being found in the back alley behind a drug store. The team will need to work through a broad differential diagnosis and recognize the need to intubate the patient. If they try naloxone, it will have no effect. After intubation, the team will receive critical VBG results showing a profound metabolic acidosis with a significant anion gap. The goal is to trigger the team to work through the possible causes of an elevated anion gap, including toxic alcohols.
Thyroid Storm
A 31 year-old-female presents by EMS with altered LOC and fever due to thyroid storm precipitated by recent parturition. The patient is tachycardic and hypoxic on arrival. Her level of consciousness will continue to deteriorate despite IV fluids and antibiotics and will require intubation. The husband will be at the bedside, and the team will need to discuss the need for intubation with him. After intubation, lab results will come back indicating possible thyrotoxicosis. The patient's rhythm will change to atrial fibrillation at this time. The team will be expected to manage the thyroid storm in consultation with Endocrinology and ICU.
Status Epilepticus
A 38 year-old female presents actively seizing with EMS. She will fail to respond to repeat doses of IV benzodiazepines, and will require escalating medial management. Following phenytoin infusion, the patient will become hypotensive (because the phenytoin was given as a “push dose”, which the nurse will mention). The patient will then stop her GTC seizure, but will remain unresponsive with eye deviation. The team should recognize this as subclinical status, and proceed to intubate the patient. The patient will continue to seize following phenobarbital and propofol infusion. Urgent consults to radiology and ICU should be made to expedite care out of the ED. The team will be expected to debrief the phenytoin medication error and disclose the error to the husband.
Obstetrical Trauma
A 33 year old G2P1 female at 32 weeks GA presents with blunt trauma following an MVC. She will be hypotensive due to both hypovolemic shock from a pelvic fracture and obstructive shock from a tension pneumothorax. Fetal monitoring will show the fetus in distress with tachycardia and late decelerations. Early airway intervention should be employed, with thoughtful selection of drugs for sedation and paralysis given the pregnancy. After intubation, the patient will remain hypotensive. She will require massive transfusion and coordination of care between orthopedics, general surgery, and obstetrics. The patient’s husband will also arrive after intubation and the team must give him the bad news.
EM Sim Cases 