ED physicians responding to "code blue" alerts on inpatient units is a common practice but one that exposes them to considerable legal risks.
Most of us dread the chief complaint of weakness. This nonspecific symptom engenders a differential that ranges from malingering to fatal, from psychiatric to cancer. The finding of demonstrable muscle weakness helps, but then leads to a confusing set of relatively rare diagnoses.
A new generation of physicians is reinvigorating the field of cardiac arrest research. I am grateful that two of the experts in this area have written this issue of EM Reports. After reading this, I anticipate you will place these principles into practice.
With advances in medical science, patients with serious congenital diseases are living into adulthood. Where once cystic fibrosis patients died in infancy, patients now live into their 40s. Although many of the standard treatments for COPD apply to cystic fibrosis, there are specific differences in management, which this monograph highlights.