For many people there is nothing more beautiful than watching Mother Nature in action. Witnessing the raw power of 30 foot waves crashing against the beach or taking a boat down a winding river while it cuts its way through a valley can be amazing experience. Unfortunately, sometimes that raw power manifests itself as a natural disaster. The following is an overview of 4 types of natural disasters and the specific injuries that are common for a hospital to encounter.

If your hospital experiences a total power outage, you still need to provide patient care. You might be able to navigate the darkened rooms with a flashlight and emergency lighting, but how will you oxygenate that ventilated patient? How will you suction him?

Although most hospitals have in-wall suction, there are situations when rechargeable or alkaline battery-powered aspirators are a better alternative, or possibly even the only option. When those situations arise, you need to be confident that portable suction units are ready to operate and that they can provide the level of suction you need for any type of patient, including children and neonates.

Seizures are a common emergency. First responders frequently encounter children having febrile seizures, epileptic seizures, and seizures due to brain anomalies such as dementia or brain lesions. In most cases, the seizure itself is not dangerous, but the medical condition that caused it may be. 

The rapid worldwide spread of the novel coronavirus has compelled many seemingly impossible choices: Hospital administrators have had to choose between forcing people to die alone and potentially spreading the virus to others; labor and delivery units must now weigh separating birthing people from their partners or risking transmitting the virus to others, including vulnerable infants. Perhaps one of the most challenging conundrums during this pandemic has been managing the simple realities of CPR. 

The American Heart Association (AHA) recently changed its CPR guidelines to respond to this emerging crisis. Here’s what you need to know.

Flight medics face some of the highest job stress levels of any first responders. They are often responding to patients for whom seconds matter. In this rapidly changing environment, diligent airway management is critical, particularly for trauma survivors, neonates, and people with serious respiratory health conditions. 

The airway can decompensate quickly, so even if a patient is not experiencing respiratory distress at the first encounter, you must monitor their airway for the duration of the flight. Here’s what you need to know.

Overweight or obese patients can present suctioning difficulties. Because most American adults are overweight or obese, medical providers must train in the treatment of bariatric patients. These patients are highly susceptible to airway difficulties, particularly during surgery. The following strategies can help you effectively suction bariatric patients, even when they present with difficult airways.

Most patients know only about continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) as a treatment for obstructive sleep apnea. But in emergency medicine, CPAP has many uses, particularly for neonates with respiratory distress. 

The COVID-19 crisis has fundamentally shifted the emergency medicine landscape. Providers are exhausted, afraid, and overwhelmed by an increasingly taxed health system. Patients’ lives hang in the balance, and research shows that they’re just as afraid. Fear of the novel coronavirus is now keeping patients with emergency symptoms away from the emergency room.