A femoral nerve block has just been performed on a 65-year-old male who sustained a right femoral neck fracture. The patient also sustained a laceration to the scalp which was repaired by the medical student. The patient is now complaining of blurry vision, paresthesias, and “twitchiness”. The patient progresses on to seizure followed by cardiac arrest and will need high quality ACLS care along with lipid emulsion therapy.
Category: Resuscitation
Inhalational Injury
A 70-year old female is brought to the ED after lighting herself on fire while trying to light a cigarette. She will have a 15% TBSA burn (upper anterior chest and neck only) with inhalational injury. Preparation for intubation should be an early priority. Her prognosis is poor but survivable and it will be key to discuss goals of care with the family before proceeding with intubation and further burn care. A difficult intubation should be anticipated but is not encountered in this case.
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: Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest
The patient is found by a friend unresponsive after a 7 day history of cough and shortness of breath. He immediately receives bystander CPR. An advanced care paramedic crew attends the scene and manages a ventricular fibrillation arrest prior to transporting to hospital. The patient goes into cardiac arrest again shortly before arriving in the emergency department. The team will need to prepare for the patient's arrival and then manage a cardiac arrest using appropriate precautions for suspected COVID-19.
COVID-19: STEMI with VF Arrest
This 50-year old woman presents with typical cardiac chest pain and high suspicion for COVID-19. Her ECG shows an anterior STEMI. The team will start performing the initial work-up and management of a patient with STEMI. While this is occurring, the patient suffers a VF arrest. The team will need to go through the ACLS algorithm while taking all precautions required in caring for a patient with suspected COVID.
Pediatric Airway Obstruction
This case involves an 8 year-old boy with upper airway obstruction from sausage. When indirect treatment fails, removal with Magill forceps under direct visualization is required. The patient slowly recovers after removal of foreign body but will require admission for monitoring.
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.
Resuscitative Hysterotomy
The team receives advance notification from EMS about a 30 year-old female who is visibly pregnant and was in a car accident. Upon arrival to the ED the patient loses pulses and CPR begins. The team must begin ACLS/ATLS and proceed to resuscitative hysterotomy. After delivery they should begin neonatal resuscitation and continue management of the mother. Early consultation should be made to trauma surgery, NICU, and OB.
Nightmares Case 8: Sepsis/Cholangitis
This case involves the approach to severe sepsis, more specifically acute cholangitis. If treated aggressively (IV fluids, early broad spectrum antibiotics and source control) the patient will stabilize. If not, the patient will deteriorate into a PEA arrest.
