Author: Matt Astin

Background:  Despite medical advances, survival after out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is still largely dependent on high-quality CPR. Many of these events are due to a primary cardiac event, likely coronary artery occlusion. Current guidelines recommend reperfusion therapy following …

Background:  Vasopressors are usually given through central venous catheters (CVC). This, however, is a time-consuming process and placement of a peripheral venous catheter (PIV) is much faster. Each hour of delay has been associated with a 2% increase in in-hospital mortality.2 Using …

The use of resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) has been a hot topic on the cutting edge of trauma resuscitation for several years now. But who should be doing this procedure, on whom, and when? Tissue ischemia …

Background: Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) is not an uncommon condition in the emergency department. Epidemiologically, SVT has an incidence of 35/100,000 person-years in the United States.2That is roughly 89,000 new cases per year. The Valsalva maneuver is a recognized treatment for SVT, …

The 2017 edition of the Social Media And Critical Care (SMACC) conference was held in Berlin, Germany this year (#dasSMACC). Over 2000 emergency physicians, intensivists, anesthetists, EMS providers, and nurses piled into the Tempodrom for three days of inspiring lectures …