EM Residents should rotate in a SICU. If your program doesn't send you through, it probably is worth an elective and a major trauma center. My friend, Rich Savel, has created a couple of videos to orient his rotators to the unit. I think they would be valuable for any resuscitation resident.
Additional Resources for SICU Education
coming soon…
An ED Intensivist from NY. No conflicts of interest (coi).
Latest posts by Scott Weingart (see all)
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Where Dr Savel mentions spinal shock it should be neurogenic shock…neurogenic shock may occur in the setting of spinal shock of course.
Thank you for pointing that out.
I made up a mneumonic for shock, and share it with my fellow paramedics whenever possible. It is easier to remember if visualized, but here goes. “You could end up with a nasty cohd (pronounced=code), with a silent “h”.” The “cohd”, with a silent “h” is cardiogenic, obstructive, hypovolemic (the silent “h”) and distributive. The nasty is actually nas-d, and sits above the letters “cohd”, over the “d”. NAS is neurogenic, anaphylactic, and septic. So, neurogenic, anaphylactic, and septic sit over the “d” and sound out as NAS-D (nasty). It probably sounds silly, but perhaps it is the silliness that makes it memorable. So, we don’t want a “nas-d cohd (with a silent “h”)”. The silent “h” is perhaps the silliest part of all, but somehow becomes memorable. Of course, this is medic level stuff, but it helps. By the way, if I didn’t really make it up, my apologies to whoever did. Maybe I heard it and took an accidental ownership over time, sort of like Brian Williams of NBC.
Dr Savel:
Love this review and love your enthusiasm for teaching. Thanks for sharing this.
Hi Scott,
Thanks for sharing! This is very helpful. Can you please share the additional resources for SICU Education?
Thanks,
Lauren R.
PGY-2 EM