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Emergency Medicine Archives - Innova

Sep 10
0

Sepsis in the Emergency Department

By | Uncategorized

How Sepsis has Changed ED Protocols

AUTHOR:  Laura Edgerley-Gibb, MD

How Sepsis Has Changed Emergency Department Protocols

By Laura Edgerley-Gibb, MD, FACEP, Medical Director, SLV Health Emergency Department, and Chief Medical Officer, Innova Emergency Medical Associates.

Sepsis affects nearly 1.7 million Americans per year and results in 270,000 deaths. It can affect patients at any age, from our tiniest neonates to our elderly patients. There is rarely a shift in the Emergency Department where we do not treat a patient with sepsis. In the past, “sepsis care” was ill-defined and there was inadequate data to show how we should best treat sepsis. Sepsis was not even formally defined in the medical community until 2001.

Through the years, there have been many iterations of sepsis treatments, but today we know that there are three main tenants of sepsis care:
1. Identifying Sepsis – with advances in lab testing (lactate levels, procalcitonin levels, and rapid panels for common bacteria/viruses) we are much better at identifying sepsis.
2. Providing broad-spectrum antibiotics – antibiotic recommendations from the IDSA and other sources are better studied and more robust.
3. Treating poor perfusion – a hallmark of sepsis is poor perfusion to the organs. Prompt treatment with IV fluids and blood pressure support is needed.

We now know that early identification of sepsis and appropriate treatment can save lives.

gibbs and deraet

Pictured in the SLV Health Regional Medical Center are Hospitalist Director Olivier de Raet, MD (L), and Innova CMO Laura Edgerley-Gibb, MD (R).

 

https://www.sanluisvalleyhealth.org/news/2020/september/how-sepsis-has-changed-ed-protocols/?fbclid=IwAR1fGMofF831Lc1RGdfaqOxSTQgte1HSmAAWFavkNBNx7Bbbu6EhhSWs_cA

 

Aug 26
24

Rural Emergency Care

By | Emergency Medicine, Rural Communities

Practicing Rural Emergency Medical Care

Approximately 60 million Americans live in rural communities across the United States.  When it comes to health care, they face unique challenges compared to patients who live in urban communities.  There are far fewer physicians, both primary care and specialists, and patients must travel further distances to get to physicians and hospitals.  There are also proportionately more severe auto accidents and trauma-related deaths despite the overall lower population. In the current economic environment, many rural hospitals have been forced to close labor and delivery units – meaning that pregnant women must now travel even further for care.

Innova Emergency Medical Associates helps hospitals tackle the difficult problems of physician recruitment and Emergency Department quality.  We are drawn to the numerous benefits of practicing medicine in rural areas – especially the relationship that forms between the physician and the members of the hospital staff, our patients and the community as a whole.  We wanted to create a way to recruit highly qualified, board certified Emergency Medicine physicians to provide world-class care to areas that had struggled with either staffing or quality in their Emergency Department – and it has been a huge success!

Our hospitals have been shocked by our ability to change the culture of their Emergency Department and take the quality of care delivered to new heights.  Our physicians are dedicated to patient safety, ED throughput, and provide outstanding patient care.

Jul 22
23

Gaining Access to Emergency Medicine in Rural Communities

By | Emergency Medicine, Rural Communities

One of the biggest challenges facing our rural communities is access to care.

In the last 8 years, 5% of rural hospitals have closed their doors, leaving their communities with no access to emergency care and many more hospitals continue to struggle to keep their doors open.

Additionally, one of the major tragedies in access to care has been the closing of labor and delivery units in a large number of rural hospitals.

Here at Innova, we were very glad to see a recent article in the New York Times highlighting access to care issues for rural communities.  This article focuses on both lack of obstetrical care as well as lack of Emergency Services available to a large percentage of rural patients.