BrainWaves #96 Teaching through clinical cases: The unconscious patient

MedLink Neurology Podcast is delighted to feature selected episodes from BrainWaves, courtesy of James E Siegler MD, its originator and host. BrainWaves is an academic audio podcast whose mission is to educate medical providers through clinical cases and topical reviews in neurology, medicine, and the humanities, and episodes originally aired from 2016 to 2021.

Originally released: February 8, 2018

Even as a medical professional, it can throw you off to be out in public and find someone acutely unresponsive. It's not like being in the hospital. There are no crash carts, no nursing support, and no diagnostic tests--just you and whatever you have around you. So, what can you do? This week, Dr. Ramani Balu discusses the first 5 minutes of this assessment, with a little twist. You're stuck on an airplane.

Produced by James E Siegler. Music by Andrew Sacco, Ars Sonor, Chris Zabriskie, Lee Rosevere, and Fabian Measures. Voiceover by Erika Mejia. BrainWaves' podcasts and online content are intended for medical education only and should not be used for clinical decision-making. It's just for fun. Remember fun?

REFERENCES

Gendreau MA, DeJohn C. Responding to medical events during commercial airline flights. N Engl J Med 2002;346(14):1067-73. PMID 11932475

Nable JV, Tupe CL, Gehle BD, Brady WJ. In-flight medical emergencies during commercial travel. N Engl J Med 2015;373(10):939-45. PMID 26332548

Silverman D, Gendreau M. Medical issues associated with commercial flights. Lancet 2009;373(9680):2067-77. PMID 19232708

We believe that the principles expressed or implied in the podcast remain valid, but certain details may be superseded by evolving knowledge since the episode’s original release date.