Blast Injuries

Image by: Samuel King Jr., Team Eglin Public Affairs

This post was peer reviewed. Click to learn more.

Author: Gregory Jasani, PGY-2

University of Maryland School of Medicine Department of Emergency Medicine

INTRODUCTION
Whether through an accident or intentional act, explosions have the potential to cause injuries to many people at the same time, resulting in significant morbidity and mortality and potentially overwhelming local healthcare resources. The resulting blast injuries are something that all emergency medicine providers need to be able to promptly recognize and treat.

Blast injuries are unfortunately not uncommon. In 2014, there were over 10,000 blast injuries in the United States due to fireworks. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, detonation of bombs or incendiary devices caused over 4,000 injuries and 448 deaths in the United States between 1987 and 1997.

An Approach to Vulnerable Populations in Medical Education

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Authors: Miriam Asher; Cortlyn Brown, MD; and Faith Quenzer, DOOriginally published: Common Sense
November/December 2019

It was in my second year of medical school and I was sitting in a room with nine of my classmates and a physician during our case-based learning class. The case presented that day was of a young man with a sore throat and fever. He recently returned from a business trip to South America and was in a committed, exclusive relationship with his boyfriend.

After reading the opening statement about the patient, we began the usual task of developing differential diagnosis. Infections, of course, were a significant subsection of our differential list. These question stems of theoretical patients are designed to lead us in a certain direction unlike real patients who present with both relevant and irrelevant details. To the average medical student studying their “high-yield medical pearls,” the most obvious primary differential in a young man who has sex with men is Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Even if the patient is not sick at all, we are taught to suspect HIV because we are supposed to assume that men who have sex with men have sex with multiple partners (regardless of their relationship status) and do not practice safe sex.

Ways To Ace Residency

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Author: Adriana Coleska, MD, AAEM/RSA Board of Directors

Originally published: Common Sense

November/December 2019

My name is Adriana and I am one of the AAEM/RSA Board Members and your liaison to the Publications and Social Media Committee. As I transition into my role as the senior resident, I thought I would share with you a few tips that have helped me enjoy my time in residency and make the most out of the learning opportunities.

1. Save the numbers of all of your co-residents in your phone!
   Your co-residents are your lifeline. You should always be able to count on them for advice, shift swaps, check-ins, and that occasional “sorry I’m running late” text. You don’t want to be fumbling around looking for numbers in a time of need.