Department Blog

The “Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response” chapter of the online emergency medicine textbook CorePendium, was updated August 26 by Assistant Professor Gregory Jasani, MD, and Phil Nawrocki, MD, of the Allegheny Health Network in Pennsylvania. Assistant Professor Jennifer Guyther, MD, is the editor of the Emergency Medicine Services section of CorePendium, and Ben Lawner, DO, is the associate editor. 

The “Bell Palsy” chapter of CorePendium was updated August 26 by Danya Khoujah, MBBS, MEHP and Associate Professor Wan-Tsu Wendy Chang, MD, and the same authors updated the chapter on “Cranial Neuropathies” on August 30. Associate Professor Mike Abraham, MD, is editor of the Nervous System Disorders section of CorePendium.

Clinical Assistant Professor Doug Sward, MD, coauthored “Tick-borne illnesses in emergency and wilderness medicine,” published in the Environmental and Wilderness Medicine issue of Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America. 2024 Aug:42(3):597-611. The article discusses Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis, tularemia, Powassan virus, and alpha-gal syndrome, as well as bite prevention and tick removal.

Assistant Professor Cheyenne Falat, MD, is co-editor of the August 2024 issue of Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America on Environmental and Wilderness Medicine and coauthor of the preface, “Entering the Extreme.” She also wrote “Environmental hypothermia,” published in the same issue. Emerg Med Clin North Am. 2024 Aug:42(3):493-511. Professor Amal Mattu, MD, wrote the issue's Foreword.

Professor Mak Moayedi, MD, Associate Professor Kinjal Sethuraman, MD, MPH, and Clinical Professor Mike Witting, MD, presented on “Pseudoephedrine prophylaxis does not prevent middle ear barotrauma in hyperbaric oxygen therapy” at the annual scientific meeting of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine Society in New Orleans on June 14.

“Why are more Americans drowning?” is the title of an article published by health news site MDLinx that features clinical instructor Sarah Lee, MD, discussing emergency department resuscitations, evaluations, and monitoring of patients who are injured when they are submerged in water and can’t breathe. “Drowning incidents can happen quickly and quietly,” Dr. Lee noted. She recommends actions to prevent drowning that include learning to swim -- at any age -- wearing a life jacket, and using the buddy system so someone can alert others about a distressed or injured swimmer.

Samantha Camp, SOM class of 2027, has been awarded a one-year Medical Student Research Grant from the Emergency Medicine Foundation (EMF) and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine Foundation (SAEMF) for her project “Biomarkers Predicting Functional Outcomes in Patients with Ischemic Stroke Requiring Thrombectomy.” Associate Professor Quincy Tran, MD, PhD is her mentor.

Instructor Gabriella Miller, MD, was featured and quoted in "Heat-Related Deaths Are On the Rise -- These 6 Expert Tips Can Reduce the Risk of Heatstroke," an article published June 10 in Woman’s World magazine. She discussed heat stroke symptoms and the importance of treating heat stroke as an emergency and calling 911. She also outlined practical ways to bring down an affected person's body temperature quickly, including ice baths, ice packs, and wet towels. 
https://www.womansworld.com/posts/health/heat-related-deaths-are-on-the-rise-these-6-expert-tips-can-reduce-the-risk-of-heatstroke

Professor Jon Mark Hirshon, MD, MPH, PhD, served as one of two training track leads for the cohort of eight UMSOM scholars including Assistant Professor David Gatz, MD, in the second Clinical, Translational, and Public Health training program offered by the Center for Advanced Research Training and Innovation (CARTI). The competitive program for rising biomedical and clinician scientists offers training with a focus on research rigor, compliance, and grant writing to prepare them to pursue well-funded, innovative biomedical research.

“Use of Esmarch bandage does not increase peripheral vein size in healthy volunteers: a randomized clinical trial,” by Professor Brian Euerle, MD, Associate Professor Alexis Salerno, MD, Residents Robert Paterson, MD and Taylor Miller, MD, former clinical assistant professor Samantha King, MD, and Assistant Professor J. David Gatz, MD, was published online June 25 in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine. Increasing the diameter of a vein may improve venous access during ultrasound-guided cannulation. Comparing use of a tourniquet only with use of a tourniquet + Esmarch bandage to increase basilic vein size in study participants, the study found no difference in vein size between the two groups but noted that participants in the tourniquet + Esmarch group reported greater discomfort. (Am J Emerg Med. 2024 Jun 25;83:20-24.)

Emergency Medicine resident Babette Newman, DO, UMMC clinical pharmacy specialist Matthew Poremba, PharmD, and Associate Professor Gentry Wilkerson, MD, coauthored “Angioedema Secondary to Tenecteplase Use in a Patient with Acute Ischemic Stroke: A Case Report,” published July 11 in Clinical Practice and Cases in Emergency Medicine.