The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine

Reference: Muldowney et al. A Comparison of Ketamine to Midazolam for the Management of Acute Behavioral Disturbance in the Out-of-Hospital Setting. Ann Emerg Med. 2025  Date: April 24, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Howie Mell received his Medical Doctorate (MD) from the University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Medicine at Rockford. Prior to that, he […] The post SGEM#473: Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind – Midazolam or Ketamine for Acute Agitation in the Pre-Hospital Setting first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Reference: Kareemi et al Artificial intelligence-based clinical decision support in the emergency department: a scoping review. AEM April 2025. Date: April 15, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Kirsty Challen is a Consultant in Emergency Medicine at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals. Case: It may be April, but as you sit in your departmental meeting with your emergency physician colleagues, you all […] The post SGEM#472: Together In Electric Dreams – Or Is It Reality? first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Reference: Sax DR, et al. Emergency Severity Index Version 4 and Triage of Pediatric Emergency Department Patients. JAMA Pediatrics, October 2024 Date: February 12, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Brandon Ho is a graduating pediatric emergency medicine fellow at Children’s National Hospital in Washington DC and soon to be attending physician at Seattle Children’s. His research […] The post SGEM#471: Are ESI Levels Accurate for Triage of Pediatric Patients? first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Emergency department crowding is scrutinized, debunking the myth that non-urgent patients are to blame. The discussion highlights the vital need for precise definitions of crowding and warns against mislabeling that could harm patient care. It also addresses systemic issues like staffing shortages and the unique challenges faced in rural settings. There’s an emphasis on evidence-based solutions tailored to local needs rather than ineffective approaches, advocating for hospital-wide strategies to improve patient flow and reduce wait times.

Date: March 23, 2025 I was honoured to be invited to speak at Incrementum 2025 in Mercia, Spain. Thank you to Paco, Carmen, and the Incrementum team for putting on one of the best conferences ever. They asked me to talk about five important recent papers in 15 minutes. Usually, I do ten papers in […] The post SGEM Xtra: 5 Papers in 15 Minutes (Incrementum 2025) first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: February 22, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Nicholas Peoples, who is a medical student at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Nick’s career has been an exciting blend of global health and emergency medicine. In 2015, Nick was part of the first-ever class to study at Duke University’s new campus in China, where he earned […] The post SGEM Xtra: On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams – Citation Errors in the Biomedical Literature first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Reference: Pessano S, et al. Positioning for lumbar puncture in newborn infants. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. December 2023 Date: February 7, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Lauren Rosenfeld is a PGY-3 emergency medicine resident at George Washington University. She is also a new podcast host for Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association (EMRA) Cast Series. Case: A five-day-old […] The post SGEM #470: Here We Go Up Up Up or Lateral for Infant Lumbar Punctures first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Reference: Bannelier et al. Failure rate of D-dimer testing in patients with high clinical probability of pulmonary embolism: Ancillary analysis of three European studies. AEM Feb 2025 Date: February 27, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Lauren Westafer an Assistant Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School – Baystate. She is […] The post SGEM#469: You Take My Breath Away – D-dimer for Ruling out PE in High-Risk Patients first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Dr. Aaron Skolnick, an Assistant Professor at Mayo Clinic specializing in emergency medicine, dives into the complexities of diagnosing sepsis. He discusses the promising potential of Monocyte Distribution Width (MDW) as a rapid biomarker for early detection. Skolnick highlights the challenges of identifying sepsis due to its nonspecific symptoms and critiques existing diagnostic methodologies. The conversation also covers the biases in observational studies versus randomized control trials, and evaluates the clinical implications of MDW in emergency settings.

Dr. Ross Prager, an intensivist and adjunct professor, dives into the revolutionary role of AI in clinical research. He highlights how AI enhances patient eligibility screening and data analysis while stressing the need for human insight. The ethical implications of AI, including data privacy and bias, are discussed candidly. Prager also emphasizes the importance of maintaining high quality in systematic reviews despite automation. Listeners gain insights into the future of AI in healthcare and the critical balance required to harness its potential responsibly.