Department Blog - March 2015

The current issue of the International Journal of Emergency Medicine contains an article by Maite A. Huis in' t Veld, MD, Ty Nguyen, DO, Joe Martinez, MD, and Amal Mattu, MD, which summarizes 33 "need-to-know" articles from the recent emergency medicine literature. The authors organized the review in 13 topic areas, including airway management, cardiology, infectious diseases, orthopedics, and ultrasound. The article is available at www.intjem.com/content/8/1/5.

Michael Allison, MD, Michael Scott, MD, Kami Hu, MD, Michael Witting, MD, MS, and Michael Winters, MD, published the article titled “High Initial Tidal Volumes in Emergency Department Patients at Risk for Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome” in the April issue of The Journal of Critical Care. After retrospectively reviewing the charts of patients intubated in the emergency department, the authors concluded that tidal volumes used during ventilation were higher than the recommended level in patients in whom acute respiratory distress syndrome emerged within 48 hours.

Stephen Schenkel, MD, MPP, Clinical Director of the Emergency Department at Mercy Medical Center, published a thoughtful and compassionate editorial, “Learning from the Stories of Homeless Alcoholics,” in the February issue of Annals of Emergency Medicine. His essay accompanies an article in the same issue, by UMEM residency alumnus Ryan McCormack, MD, and his colleagues, which chronicles the stories of 20 homeless, alcohol-dependent people who frequent the ED at Bellevue Hospital.

Jennifer Guyther, MD, and Ben Lawner, DO, MS, EMT-P, served on the faculty for the 22nd Annual Conference of the National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation, presented in Baltimore in late February. Dr. Guyther's talk was titled “Sticks, Stones and Broken Bones: Pediatric Injuries.” Dr. Lawner gave three lectures: "EMS Darwin Awards: Strategies for Survival and Evolution,” “Resuscitation Review 2014: Articles You've Got to Know," and "How Low Do We Go to Stop the Flow? Prehospital Trauma Resuscitation." Dr. Guyther is a Fire Surgeon in the Baltimore County Fire Department, and Dr. Lawner is the Deputy EMS Medical Director in the Balitmore City Fire Department.

Two of our faculty members recently received prestigious awards from the American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM). Larry Weiss, MD, JD, was named a Master of the AAEM, an award that has been presented only 7 times during the organization’s history. This top-tier honor recognizes senior AAEM fellows who have made extraordinary contributions to the association and to the specialty through service, published works, education, and leadership. Mimi Lu, MD, MS, received AAEM’s Young Educator Award, which honors a physician for outstanding contributions to AAEM through its educational programs. The awards were presented during AAEM’s 2015 Scientific Assembly, held in Austin in early March. Congratulations to Dr. Weiss and Dr. Lu!

The faculty for the 21st Annual Scientific Assembly of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine, held in Austin in early March, included more physicians from our department than from any other institution. Eighteen members of our department presented lectures and posters, led a pre-conference workshop, received national awards, gave plenary session addresses, and were named to leadership positions within the organization. The following faculty members contributed to this impressive participation: Michael Bond, MD, Laura Bontempo, MD, Rose Chasm, MD, Bryan Hayes, PharmD, Mimi Lu, MD, MS, Haney Mallemat, MD, Joe Martinez, MD, Amal Mattu, MD, Siamak Moayedi, MD, Terry Mulligan, DO, MPH, Kinjal Sethuraman, MD, MPH, Roger Stone, MD, MS, Semhar Tewelde, MD, Larry Weiss, MD, JD, Gentry Wilkerson, MD, Mike Winters, MD, and Andy Windsor, MD, RDMS. In addition, Kathleen Stephanos, MD, a fourth-year EM/Peds resident, contributed a photo presentation to the program.

Ben Lawner, DO, MS, EMT-P, Jon Mark Hirshon, MD, MPH, PhD, and Debra Lee, MD, are co-authors of the article titled “Comparison of Prediction Models for Use of Medical Resources at Urban Auto-Racing Events,” published in the December 2014 issue of Prehospital and Disaster Medicine. Their study was based on data from the Grand Prix events held in Baltimore in 2011 and 2012. The investigators found that prediction models commonly used in response readiness planning overpredict the medical resources that will be required by spectators and participants. The EM faculty members collaborated with colleagues from the Department of Anesthesiology, the Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland Baltimore County, the National Study Center for Trauma and Emergency Medical Systems, and the Baltimore City Fire Department. The article’s lead author is J.V. Nable, MD, NRP, formerly on our faculty and now with Georgetown University School of Medicine.

Whitney Cesari, MD, a third-year EM resident, has been chosen by the medical school’s Class of 2015 for induction into the University of Maryland chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society. Each class can choose six residents for this honor, which acknowledges compassion, humanism, and dedication to patients and students. Congratulations to Dr. Cesari for this prestigious award!

Laura Pimentel, MD, is a co-author of the article titled “The Maryland Medicare Waiver and Emergency Care: Mixed Experiences Deserve Close Scrutiny,” published in the March issue of the American Journal of Medical Quality. Her co-authors are Jesse Pines, MD, MBA, MSCE, and Steven A. Farmer, MD, PhD, from the Office for Clinical Practice Innovation at George Washington University. Their article is available at this address: http://ajm.sagepub.com/content/30/2/186.long.