Word to the wise. If your life is dependent on the proper functioning of a device implanted in your chest, it is a good idea to make sure it receives its scheduled maintenance. Just like your car, if you ignore it, it will eventually leave you stranded. Although in this case, it may leave […]

ER docs are often disparaged for not really knowing much about certain diseases and or fields that do not really interest them - most notably GYN, Haematology, Ophtho, Pysch, etc. We tend to just boil it down to a few things we worry about and turf the rest to the specialists. However, there […]

The other day I had a guy in his 40’s come in with a sore throat - pretty damn common and usually completely unexciting and non-emergent complaint. However, this was one of those cases where you take one look at the guy and listen to him answer one question, and your spidey sense tells you […]

I don’t know what goes through people’s heads sometimes. While I do appreciate that people may think I have incredible deductive reasoning powers, realise that this is an Emergency Room and I am not Dr House!
I hate it when people come in with some random complaint (doesn’t really matter what it is) that […]

When people come in with complaints of “double vision”, I find it is almost always bull. It rarely really is true diplopia - it is 99% of the time “blurred” vision or something else nonspecific. True double vision is worrisome. It implies a problem with the muscles that move the eye - causing one (or […]

OK, one shift where I was not overcome with sheer volume AND had a nice mix of patients who actually have urgencies or emergencies is rare enough, two is a row is unheard of!
Here was the mix:
a. A woman in her 60’s with fairly severe angioedema of her lips and tongue - unknown cause. […]

This is an easy one:
We had a woman with this recently. What surgery did she just have? Answers tomorrow.