Sarah Dubbs, MD, served as a guest editor for this month's issue of Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America, on the topic of hematologic and oncologic emergencies. Dr. Dubbs wrote two of the articles (“The Latest Cancer Agents and Their Complications” and “Rapid Fire: Tumor Lysis Syndrome”) and co-authored two more with Akilesh Honasoge, MD, MA (“Rapid Fire: Central Nervous System Emergencies” and “Rapid Fire: Pericardial Effusion and Tamponade”). Amal Mattu, MD, continues as the consulting editor for this journal and, in that role, wrote the preface for this issue.
Siamak Moayedi, MD, and Michael Witting, MD, MS, published the article titled “No Radiographic Safe Margin Found in the ‘Easy IJ’ Internal Jugular Vein Procedure” in the July issue of The Journal of Emergency Medicine (2018;55:29?33). The lead author is Ryan McCarter, MD, who was a student at the University of Maryland School of Medicine at the time of their study and is now an internal medicine resident at Vidant Medical Center in Greenville, North Carolina. Based on their observations, the investigators recommend assessment for pneumothorax with chest radiography or ultrasound following the Easy IJ procedure.
Dan Gingold, MD, MPH, and Doug Sward, MD, published the article titled “The Effect of Wilderness and Medical Training on Injury and Altitude Preparedness Among Backcountry Hikers in Rocky Mountain National Park,” in the World Journal of Emergency Medicine (2018;9:172-177). Medical students Michael Yue and David Spivey assisted them with data collection and analysis. Their survey of 380 hikers in 4 areas of the park showed that medically trained hikers were more likely to be prepared for altitude, medical emergencies, and trauma than their non-trained counterparts. Wilderness-trained hikers were more prepared for altitude sickness. These relationships likely reflect hikers’ awareness of hazards in the wilderness and the steps that can be taken to avoid them.
David Marcozzi, MD, published an opinion piece about the US health care system's readniess for disasters in the May 24th edition of The Hill:
His essay focuses on the re-appropriation bill for the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovations Act, which has been introduced for congressional consideration. This bill provides the opportunity to apply lessons learned in past disasters and thus improve the country's readiness to respond to mass casualty events.
Two emergency medicine faculty members presented lectures at Maryland EMS Care 2018, hosted by Maryland’s Regional EMS Advisory Council and the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems in Ocean City in late April. This annual event is designed as a continuing education opportunity for emergency medical services providers, nurses, and fire/rescue personnel. Roger Stone, MD, MS, who is the EMS Medical Director for the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, presented “Attitudes and Culture in Our Fire-Based EMS Systems” and co-led a course on management of the difficult airway. Jenny Guyther, MD,presented the lecture titled “Pediatric Seizures: Subtle versus Status.”
David Marcozzi, MD, Associate Professor and Director of Population Health, Department of Emergency Medicine, and Co-Director, Program in Health Disparities and Population Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine, is the lead author of “Trends in the Contribution of Emergency Departments to the Provision of Hospital-Associated Health Care in the USA,” published in this month's issue of International Journal of Health Services (48[2]:267-288). His co-authors from the Department of Emergency Medicine are Nicole Baehr, Emergency Medicine Healthcare Program Analyst, and Brian Browne, MD, Professor and Chairman. They collaborated with Brendan Carr, MD, MA, MS, Thomas Jefferson University School of Medicine, and Aisha Liferidge, MD, MPH, The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences (a 2006 graduate of the emergency medicine residency at the University of Maryland Medical Center).
Jon Mark Hirshon, MD, MPH, PhD, participated in a roundtable discussion held by the Health Subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee of the US House of Representatives on March 22. The purpose of the discussion was to present strategies for alleviating Medicare red tape burdens for patients and health care providers. Those strategies include standardizing documentation guidelines, eliminating duplicative paperwork and reporting burdens, modernizing laws to improve providers’ ability to work together in efficient pathways and to lower costs for patients and taxpayers, and expanding the use of innovations such as telecommunications in health care. In addition to being on our emergency medicine faculty, Dr. Hirshon is a member of the Board of Directors of the American College of Emergency Physicians.
Todd Crocco, MD, has joined the Department of Emergency Medicine, at the academic rank of Professor and as its Director for Pre-Hospital Care and Telemedicine. In his previous position, he was Chief Business Development Officer at West Virginia University Health Sciences Center and Medical Director of WVU’s Clinical and Pharmacologic Research Center. Dr. Crocco received his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and completed the emergency medicine residency and an emergency medical services fellowship at the University of Cincinnati/University Hospital.
The 3rd Annual Emergency Cardiology Symposium, “Cardiac Conundrums in EM 2018,” was held on March 28 on the UMMC campus. The event drew 250 in-person attendees and 1300 Livestream viewers from around the world. Amal Mattu, MD, organized the program and invited nationally known specialists in emergency cardiology to lecture on cutting-edge topics in the management of cardiac emergencies in adults and children. The speakers included Mimi Lu, MD (“The Crashing Cardiac Kid”), current faculty member and 2008 graduate of our emergency medicine residency, and Suzanne DeMeester, MD (“Wonder Women: Exploring the Gender Gap in ACS”), a 2006 residency graduate, now an attending physician at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor. All of the lectures can be viewed at https://livestream.com/UMEmergencyMed/EMCard2018.