These cases come to us from Drs. Jessica Pelletier and Anne Ickes. Jessica Pelletier, DO is an Emergency Medicine Education Fellow at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Her interests include harm reduction, the use of simulation for difficult conversations and procedural preparedness, and the use of osteopathic manipulation for pain control in … Continue reading Alcohol and opioid use
Category: Communication
Critical Care 2 – Myasthenic Crisis
This is the second case in a series looking at critical care medicine. A 57-year-old female with history of thymoma and myasthenia gravis is currently admitted to a general medical ward for pneumonia develops respiratory distress 48 hours after admission. A respiratory therapist (RT) was paged to assess the patient and then called you urgently because the patient appears unwell.
Critical Care 1 – Subarachnoid Hemorrhage
This is the first case in a series looking at critical care medicine. A previously healthy 46-year old woman is transferred from a surrounding hospital with CT-confirmed diagnosis of SAH with hydrocephalus. The patient is transferred direct to Neurosurgery and booked for OR but experiences progressive decreases in her GCS while awaiting surgery.
Allyship: Gendered Microaggressions
This case aims to address microaggressions using simulation. It is not a traditional simulation case; in many ways, serves as a launching point for conversation.
PEA Arrest and Breaking Bad News
A 70 year old man who had an unwitnessed cardiac arrest is brought to the ED via EMS from his local Tennis Club. Despite multiple rounds of appropriate resuscitative measures, the patient does not gain return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). Learners will need to discuss the termination of resuscitation with team members and communicate with the patient’s wife.
COVID-19: Protected Intubation in the Sim Lab
This patient is in respiratory failure and requires intubation. Participants must prepare for her arrival, organize the care team, communicate effectively and secure the patient's airway according to the principles of a protected intubation.
COVID-19: Ambulatory Care
This case was designed during the January 2020 COVID-19 outbreak in order to assess and improve team preparedness for safely and effectively caring for a moderately ill coronavirus patient from triage through to EMS transfer out of an ambulatory care setting.
COVID-19: Respiratory Failure
This case was designed during the January 2020 COVID-19 outbreak in order to assess and improve team preparedness for safely and effectively caring for a critically ill coronavirus patient from triage through to intubation.
Geriatric Case 6: Elder Abuse
This is the sixth and final case in a six-part mini-series focusing on the management of geriatric patients in the ED. This series of cases was written by Drs. Rebecca Shaw, Nemat Alsaba, and Victoria Brazil. Dr. Rebecca Shaw is an emergency physician currently working as a medical education fellow within the Emergency Department of … Continue reading Geriatric Case 6: Elder Abuse
Geriatric Case 4: End of Life Care
An 89-year-old patient is brought in to the ED by ambulance from their nursing home. Staff found her unresponsive and hypotensive at morning handover. She had been treated for UTI by her family physician over the last few days. Participants identify severe sepsis and realize that critical care interventions may be inappropriate. This should prompt a goals of care discussion including potential for initiating end-of-life care.
EM Sim Cases 