Department Blog

Ben Lawner, DO, MS, EMT-P, presented a lecture titled "The Emergency Department Management of Acutely Decompensated Heart Failure" at the Coastal Emergency Medicine Conference, held on Kiawah Island, South Carolina, last week. One hundred fifty emergency physicians attended this joint conference of the Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina chapters of ACEP.

Darlene Robinson, MD, has received a master's degree in public health, with a concentration in community health, from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Her capstone project focused on insurance reimbursement denials received by hospitalized patients.

Andy Windsor, MD, recently passed the examination requirements of the American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography, certifying him as a registered diagnostic medical sonographer. He is our fifth faculty member to achieve the distinction of RDMS designation, joining Drs. Brian Euerle, Sam Hsu, Sarah Sommerkamp, and Laura Diegelmann.

Dr. Doug Sward's article on wilderness medicine, published ealier this year in the World Journal of Emergency Medicine, has been translated into Chinese and published in the Chinese Journal of Emergency Medicine.

Jon Mark Hirshon, MD, MPH, PhD, was interviewed by Bruce Alan of WTOP News in Washington regarding the effect of the Affordable Care Act on emergency departments. Topics included the shortage of primary care physicians, access to care for the mentally ill, and the need for federal policymakers to improve resource allocation through their funding decisions. Dr. Hirshon chairs the ACEP Task Force that compiled America's Emergency Care Environment: A State-by-State Report Card, an assessment of the "health" of emergency medical services across the country.

Joe Martinez, MD, and Amal Mattu, MD, contributed the chapter on abdominal pain to Geriatric Emergency Medicine: Principles and Practice, which was published by Cambridge University Press in April.

Ashley Strobel, MD, recently published the EMRA Pediatric ECG Pocket Card, which describes congenital cardiac anomalies and causes of sudden cardiac death in children. This handy reference tool presents ECG interpretations based on age and ED-relevant Davignon intervals. It is available at the ACEP bookstore.

Congratulations to Roger M. Stone, MD, MS, who was recently certified in EMS medicine by the American Board of Emergency Medicine. In additon to his clinical and academic roles on our faculty, Dr. Stone serves as Medical Director for the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service.

Dr. Amal Mattu presented three lectures in Las Vegas in late April: "Wide Complex Tachycardias: Myths and Pitfalls" and "Acute MI: A Big Piece of Medico-Legal Pie" at the 25th Annual High Risk Emergency Medicine Conference" and "Everyday Leadership: Secrets of Great Minds Through the Ages" at EmCare's 27th Annual Leadership Conference.

The current issue of EM Resident, the membership magazine of the Emergency Medicine Residents' Associaton, contains two articles from our department: "Pulling the Trigger: A Brief Review of Hypercapnic Respiratory Failure" by Adeleke Oni, MD, and Semha Tewelde, MD, and "Backboards: Do They Really Have Your Back?" by Christina Tupe, MD, and J.V. Nable, MD. The issue is available at www.emra.org/uploadedfiles/emra/publications/em-resident/emra-emres-2014april-may-web.pdf.