This is the second case in a series looking at critical care medicine. Patients under the care of the critical care team may develop delayed complications of their illness or injuries. These cases can help individuals and teams prepare to identify and manage these patients who become newly, and sometimes unexpectedly, unstable. This case comes … Continue reading Critical Care 2 – Myasthenic Crisis
Tag: intubation
Bronchiolitis
Four days ago, an older sibling who recently started pre-school had a cold. The next day, Zarah fell sick. She has had a runny nose and cough but seemed to be doing fine until yesterday when she did not eat or drink very much. This morning, she had some noisy breathing, and her chest looked funny while she was breathing. When it did not go away after a couple of hours, Zarah’s parents called 811 for advice. They were directed to go to the emergency department. The patient will progress through escalating respiratory support and eventually require intubation and transfer to higher level of care.
Tracheostomy Emergency
48-year-old male with a recent tracheostomy presents with sudden onset respiratory distress. The patient is unable to be oxygenated or ventilated through the tracheostomy tube. The team must recognize that the tracheostomy tube is either obstructed or displaced. Attempts to correct tracheostomy obstruction with suctioning and cuff deflation are not successful. Removal of the tracheostomy tube is required, followed by either oral intubation or placement of a new tracheostomy tube. The patient improves once oral or stomal intubation is performed. If tracheostomy tube is not removed, the patient worsens and goes into cardiac arrest secondary to respiratory failure.
Late Post Partum Pre-eclampsia
Alice, a 20-year old female with no significant past medical history is brought in by ambulance with worsening upper abdominal pain onset 1 week ago when she woke up. She has felt nauseous and has vomited one time this morning. Two days ago, she began to feel short of breath. She states that it has been getting worse and she is now having trouble lying flat. She was hypertensive with EMS.
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.
Intubation with Missing BVM
A 41-year old male with HIV (not on treatment) presents to the ED with a cough for 10 days, progressive dyspnea and fever. He is hypoxic at triage and brought immediately to the resuscitation room. He has transient improvement on oxygen but then has progressive worsening of his hypoxia and dyspnea. Intubation is required. The team needs to prepare for RSI and identify that the BVM is missing from the room prior to intubation.
Burn with CO/CN Toxicity
A 33 year-old female is dragged out of a burning house and presents to the ED unresponsive. She has soot on her face, singed eyebrows, and burns to her entire chest, the front of her right arm, and part of her right leg. She is hypotensive and tachycardic with a GCS of 3. The team should proceed to intubate and fluid resuscitate. After this, the team will receive a critical VBG result that reveals profound metabolic acidosis, carboxyhemoglobin of 25 and a lactate of 11. If the potential for cyanide toxicity is recognized and treated, the case will end. If it is not, the patient will proceed to VT arrest.
Anaphylaxis (+/- Laryngospasm)
A 7-year-old male presents with wheeze, rash and increased WOB after eating a birthday cake. He has a known allergy to peanuts. The team must initiate usual anaphylaxis treatment including salbutamol for bronchospasm. The patient will then develop worsened hypotension, requiring the start of an epinephrine infusion. After this the patient will experience increased angioedema, prompting the team to consider intubation. If no paralytic is used for intubation (or if intubation is delayed), the patient will experience laryngospasm. The team will be unable to bag-mask ventilate the patient until they ask for either deeper sedation or a paralytic. If a paralytic is used, the team will be able to successfully intubate the child.
STEMI with Cardiogenic Shock
A 55-year-old man presents to the ED as a STEMI call. He is profoundly hypotensive with low O2 sats and obvious CHF. The patient’s blood pressure will transiently respond to fluid resuscitation. The ECG will show anterolateral ST elevation. The team will need to prepare for intubation while activating the cath lab. They will also need to start vasopressors. The patient will remain hypotensive until an inotrope like dobutamine is initiated. If unsafe medications are chosen for intubation, the patient will have a VT arrest.
ASA Toxicity
The learner will be presented with an altered febrile patient, requiring an initial broad work-up and management plan. The learner will receive a critical VBG report of severe acidosis, hypoglycemia and hypokalemia, requiring management. Following this, the rest of the blood work and investigations will come back, giving the diagnosis of salicylate overdose. The patient’s mental status will continue to decline and learners should proceed to intubate the patient, anticipating issues given the acid-base status. The learner should also initiate urinary alkalinization and make arrangements for urgent dialysis.
EM Sim Cases 