October 30th, 2009 by Edwin Leap, M.D. in Better Health Network, Opinion
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I practice in the rural, northwest corner of South Carolina, also known as “The Upstate.” It is a place of expansive lakes, white-water rivers and the mist covered foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The area includes thousands of acres of Sumter National Forest. The natural beauty is breathtaking. Sumter National Forest and our various parks are laced with hiking trails, which are lined with unique plants and trees, some found nowhere else. Fish and game abound. In fact, our wooded hospital grounds support a flock of at least 30 wild turkey. And last deer season, the only deer I saw were the three does grazing at the end of the ED driveway one night, spotlighted by two of our paramedics.
We have a lot of wonderful things here, things that are gifts of the rural life. We have good people, the salt of the earth types who care about personal morality and Southern courtesy. People who bring you a glass of sweet tea when your car breaks down. We live with a low crime rate, and minimal illicit drug use compared with more populated areas. It is a good place to raise children. It’s also a cool place to practice, where a busy summer shift can bring an acute MI, a near drowning (from inner-tubing on Class IV white water while drunk), a pit viper bite, a bull goring and many other pathologies, more or less interesting.
But, as physicians in a rural area, we pay a price. Because we have to endure a certain stigma. Read more »
October 30th, 2009 by Paul Auerbach, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips
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First, about sharks and shark attacks:
Sharks are found in oceans, tropical rivers and lakes. They range in size from 10 centimeters to over 15 meters (whale sharks). Approximately 30 out of 350 species have been implicated in human attacks. On average, there are fewer than 100 attacks reported each year worldwide, and less than 10% of these attacks are fatal. Sharks are superbly equipped predators, and can detect motion, chemicals, electrical signals, and vibration in the water, with a sensitivity that enables them to easily hone in on prey. The most dangerous sharks from a frequency-of-attack perspective are the white (“great white”, “white pointer”), tiger, bull, blue, dusky, hammerhead, and grey reef sharks. However, it is important to note that any shark, including the seemingly docile nurse shark, will bite a human if sufficiently provoked. Read more »
This post, How To Reduce Your Risk Of A Shark Attack, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Paul Auerbach, M.D..
October 27th, 2009 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Health Policy, True Stories
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I had an interesting visit with the husband of my niece last evening. He works as an ER doctor that is self-insured group of 60 physicians that cover the ER needs of four hospitals in Clark County near Las Vegas.
What is interesting is they are self-insured to save costs. As a group, then, they know how much per patient they must collect to assure liability care for every patient that comes to their emergency rooms.
That amount is $17 per patient per visit.
Guess how much their group receives for care they render to a Medicaid patient for a “level two” visit (minor problem: ear ache, sore throat, etc.)
Fourteen dollars per visit. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
October 22nd, 2009 by GruntDoc in Better Health Network, Opinion
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EM at its finest:
Ending a shift with a bang.
I write a nice note trying to capture the essence of what I did and why I did it. Can’t write “decided to go big or go home” so I wrap it up in that nice, sterile and intentionally understated medicalese which makes it seem like the decisions were clear cut, and based on solid information, when the truth is that they were largerly judgement calls based upon spotty and/or inaccurate information.
I sign out and then I punch out.
In EM we often don’t get to wait for the test result, or for a period of observation. Curse, and beauty, of the job.
*This blog post was originally published at GruntDoc*
October 22nd, 2009 by Shadowfax in Better Health Network, Opinion
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In the comments, a question was posed from reader “Seattle Plastic Surgery on Lake Union” (an online handle that is as unwieldy as it is descriptive). He asks:
I would like to hear your opinion on a topic that is rapidly growing near and dear to my heart…the scenario is thus:
I’m on call, the local plastic surgeon, for the local ER. You are seeing a nice family with a child that has sustained a simple facial laceration. No fractures, no missing tissue, just a simple, linear, forhead laceration.
The Mom asks that a plastic surgeon be called to come in from home and close the wound. You reply that you are able to do the closure, the child is medically stable, and that a you are qualified to close the wound. The family presses you: call the plastic surgeon.
Can you tell me, from an ER doc’s standpoint- what is the most appropriate response from the on call plastic surgeon? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Movin' Meat*
