Department Blog

Jon Mark Hirshon, MD, MPH, FACEP, FAAEM, FACPM, Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, was among the authors of "Driving Behavior and Road Traffic Crashes Among Professional and Nonprofessional Drivers in South Egypt” (abstract available), which was published in the International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion on July 8.

The authors aimed to investigate the correlates with driving behaviors and road traffic crashes (RTCs) among professional and nonprofessional drivers in South Egypt. They found that that professional drivers had more lapses, errors, and violations compared to nonprofessional drivers and female drivers were more likely to lapse than males. Driving lapses, errors, and violations did not significantly increase the risk of RTCs.


Jon Mark Hirshon, MD, MPH, FACEP, FAAEM, FACPM, Professor, and Laura Pimentel, MD, CPME, Clinical Professor, both from the Department of Emergency Medicine, were among the authors of the article, “Resource Utilization in Non-Academic Emergency Departments With Advanced Practice Providers” (full text available), which was published in the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine in July.

Their objectives were to compare resource utilization in emergency departments (EDs) that use advanced practice providers (APPs) in their staffing model with those that do not and to estimate costs associated with the utilized resources. They found that EDs staffing APPs were associated with modest increases in resource utilization as measured by admissions and imaging studies.


Mike Witting, MD, Professor; Mak Moayedi, MD, CDEM, Assistant Professor; Jon Mark Hirshon, MD, MPH, FACEP, FAAEM, FACPM, Professor; and Steve Schenkel, MD, Associate Professor, all from the Department of Emergency Medicine, were among the authors of “Predicting Failure of Intravenous Access in Adults: The Value of Prior Difficulty” (full text available), which was published in the Journal of Emergency Medicine in July.

Their objective was to validate prior need for an advanced technique to establish intravenous access as a predictor of failure to achieve access via traditional methods and to estimate the risk difference associated with this finding. They found that patients with a prior need for advanced techniques were 14% more likely to have failure of intravenous access by traditional methods than those without prior difficulty.


Kinjal Sethuraman, MD, MPH, is among the authors of the article, “Acute Direct Traumatic Optic Neuropathy Treated With Steroids, Minocycline and Hyperbaric Oxygen: A Case Report” (abstract available), recently published in Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine. The authors describe the emergency management of a man who experienced acute vision loss diagnosed as direct traumatic optic neuropathy in his right eye (no light perception) after falling from a height. They conclude that immediate hyperbaric oxygen for ischemic and mechanical injury to the optic nerve following trauma is a therapeutic option.


Doug Sward, MD, and Kinjal Sethuraman, MD, MPH, are among the authors of the article, “Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Perioperative Posterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy: A Case Report” (abstract available), recently published in Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine. The authors report on the successful treatment of postoperative posterior ischemic optic neuropathy (PION) with hyperbaric oxygen therapy and review the current literature on the pathogenesis and treatment of PION.


EM:RAP (Emergency Medicine Reviews and Perspectives) recently unveiled its revolutionary new online textbook, CorePendium, and the Department of Emergency Medicine contributed in a big way, with far more involvement in the text than any other emergency medicine program in the United States.

CorePendium’s content is enriched with podcasts, videos, and other media and there are plans for quarterly updates. As Mel Herbert, EM:RAP’s founder and CEO puts it in this introductory video, “CorePendium is the grand unified educational experience and textbook that we’ve been marching towards for nearly 20 years.”

Contributions from our faculty:

Amal Mattu, MD, co-editor in chief

Mike Winters, MD:

  • Associate editor, CorePendium
  • Associate editor, Critical Procedures, Gastrointestinal Disorders, and Thoracic and Respiratory Disorders sections

Semhar Tewelde, MD:

  • Associate editor, CorePendium
  • Associate editor, Dermatologic Disorders and Toxicologic Disorders sections
  • Author, Pericardiocentesis chapter
  • Co-author, Bradyarrhythmias chapter

Laura Bontempo, MD:

  • Section editor, Head and Neck Disorders
  • Co-author, Complications of Tracheostomies chapter

Sarah Dubbs, MD:

  • Section editor, Hematologic/Oncologic/Immunologic Disorders
  • Co-author, Infections of the Urogenital System chapter

Sara Manning, MD:

  • Section editor, Gastrointestinal Disorders
  • Co-author, Complications of Tracheostomies chapter

Mike Abraham, MS, section editor, Nervous System Disorders

Michael Bond, MD, section editor, Musculoskeletal Disorders

Ryan Spangler, MD, section editor, Renal and Urogenital Disorders

George Willis, MD, section editor, Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders

Victoria Hammond, MD:

  • Author, Eye Emergencies: Endophthalmitis, Glaucoma, Optic Neuritis, and Retinal Artery and Vein Occlusion chapters
  • Co-author, Eye Emergencies: Uveitis chapter

David Gatz, MD, author, Dialysis and Renal Transplant Related Emergencies and Spinal Trauma chapters

Tu Nguyen, DO, author, Upper Gastrointestinal Disorders and Male Genitourinary Emergencies chapters

Neeraja Murali, DO, MPH, author, Appendicitis and Pancreatic Disease chapters

Kim Boswell, MD:

  • Author, Thoracotomy chapter
  • Co-author, Approach to the Patient with Multisystem Trauma chapter

Jay Menaker, MD

  • Author, Upper and Lower Extremity Long Bone Injury chapter
  • Co-author, Approach to the Patient with Multisystem Trauma chapter

Michele Callahan, MD, author, Sexual Assault Evaluation chapter

Joseph Martinez, MD, author, Mesenteric Ischemia chapter

Rupal Jain, MD, author, Ear Emergencies chapter

Siamak Moayedi, MD, co-author, Cardiac Pacing and HIV Post-Exposure Prophylaxis chapters

Kinjal Sethuraman, MD, MPH, co-author, Dental Trauma and Oral Cavity Infections chapters

Mercedes Torres, MD, co-author, Cardiac Pacing and HIV Post-Exposure Prophylaxis chapters

Mike Billet, MD, co-author, Seizures in Adults chapter

Elizabeth Clayborne, MD, co-author, Adrenal Emergencies chapter

Brent King, MD, co-author, Pediatric Resuscitation chapter

Jaron Santelli, MD, co-author, Tendinitis and Bursitis chapter

Bradford Schwartz, MD, co-author, Hemophilia and von Willebrand Disease chapter

Sarah Sommerkamp, MD, co-author, Infections of the Urogenital System chapter

R. Gentry Wilkerson, MD, co-author, Angioedema chapter


Jon Mark Hirshon, MD, MPH, FACEP, FAAEM, FACPM, is among the authors of the article, “Correlation Between the Revised Trauma Score and Injury Severity Score: Implications for Prehospital Trauma Triage” (abstract available), published in Prehospital Emergency Care. The objectives of their study were to:

  • Assess the correlation of the physiologically based Revised Trauma Score (RTS) and MGAP score (mechanism of injury, Glasgow Coma Scale, age, blood pressure) with the anatomically based Injury Severity Score
  • Compare the accuracy of the MGAP score and the RTS for the prediction of in-hospital mortality for trauma patients

Posted 11/13/2019 by Deborah Stein

Latest CCPEM podcast: TTM for Nonshockable Rhythms?

Mike Winters, MD, and colleagues have published a podcast episode, “TTM for Nonshockable Rhythms?” (paid subscription required), as part of their twice-monthly podcast, Critical Care Perspectives in Emergency Medicine (CCPEM). In this episode, the doctors discuss Lascarrou et al.’s recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine, “Targeted Temperature Management for Cardiac Arrest with Nonshockable Rhythm” (abstract available). A companion PDF of key points and takeaways is available to podcast subscribers.


Kinjal Sethuraman, MD, MPH, has had an article, “Engaging emergency medicine influencers: lessons learned from the sex and gender interest group and the SAEM [Society for Academic Emergency Medicine] jeopardy game,” accepted for publication in AEM Education and Training. Keep an eye out for it!


William Fernandez, MD; Laura Bontempo, MD; and Zachary Dezman, MD, have had an article, “50-year-old Male with Chest Pain” (full text available), published in Clinical Practice and Cases in Emergency Medicine. Published as a clinicopathological case from the University of Maryland, the article discusses the case of a patient who presented to the emergency department with four days of intermittent chest pain and shortness of breath, progressively worsening in severity, and takes the reader through the differential diagnosis and systematic work-up of the deadly causes of chest pain, ultimately leading to the man’s diagnosis.