The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine

Date: March 26, 2026 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Robert Leeper is a trauma surgeon at the London Health Sciences Centre and an ATLS instructor who has helped train generations of physicians in trauma care. He has previously joined SGEM for: SGEM #200 – Bloodletting and Alexander Hamilton SGEM #256 – RLQ Pain and Appendectomy SGEM #345 – Non-operative Management […] The post SGEM Xtra: This One Goes to 11 – ATLS 11th Edition first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Reference: Wong KH, et al. Improving Use of Oral Antihistamines in a Children’s Hospital. Pediatrics. Feb 2026; Date: March 15, 2026 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Stephanie Kubala is an attending physician in the Division of Allergy and Immunology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She is double board-certified in both pediatrics and allergy and immunology. Case: A […] The post SGEM#506: Aww I’m Itchy…and I need a Second Generation Antihistamine first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: March 11, 2026 Reference: RENOVATE Investigators and the BRICNet Authors; High-Flow Nasal Oxygen vs Noninvasive Ventilation in Patients With Acute Respiratory Failure: The RENOVATE Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA March 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Rory Spiegel is an emergency medicine and critical care physician known for his work in evidence-based medicine and critical care. He […] The post SGEM#505: Close Enough for (ARF) Acute Respiratory Failure (HFNO vs NIV) first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: March 5, 2026 Today, we’re not in the studio. We’re not in Canada. We’re not even in North America. We are in Oxford. And not just Oxford, we are recording this SGEM Xtra in a pub. This will be the second-ever SGEM PUBcast. We need to travel back in time to 2012 for the […] The post SGEM Xtra: It’s My Life – DPhil in Oxford first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: February 26, 2026 Guest Skeptic: Terry O’Reilly is the host of the long-running and popular podcast Under the Influence. He is also an acclaimed storyteller and book writer. However, Terry is not just some radio host talking about marketing; he was an adman on the front lines, working in the trenches for 35 years […] The post SGEM Xtra: You say you want a revolution – well you know – Against the Grain: Defiant Giants Who Changed the World first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Reference: . Timing of repeat epinephrine to inform paediatric anaphylaxis observation periods: a retrospective cohort study. Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. July 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Kammeron Brissett is a pediatric emergency medicine fellow at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC. She completed her pediatrics residency and a chief year at Rainbow Babies and Children’s […] The post SGEM#504: Home Where I Wanted to Go After Anaphylaxis first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: February 13, 2026 Reference: Lang et al. Factors associated with emergency department length of stay in Alberta: a study of patient-, visit-, and facility-level factors using administrative health data. CJEM. 2026 Jan 29. Guest Skeptic: Dr. Paul Parks is an emergency physician from Medicine Hat, Alberta. He has been the President of the Alberta […] The post SGEM#503: Waiting is the Hardest Part – Factors Associated with ED LOS first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: January 3, 2026 Reference: Shroyer et al. Accuracy of cath lab activation decisions for STEMI-equivalent and mimic ECGs: Physicians vs. AI (Queen of Hearts by PMcardio). Am J Emerg Med. 2025 Nov. Guest Skeptic: Dr. Amal Mattu has been on the faculty at the University of Maryland since 1996. He has developed an academic […] The post SGEM#502: Playing with the Queen of Hearts – AI, Is It Very Smart (for ECG Interpretation)? first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: January 6, 2026 Guest Skeptic: Darren McKee is an author and speaker. He has served as a senior policy advisor and policy analyst for over 17 years. Darren hosts the international award-winning podcast, The Reality Check. He is also the author of an excellent, thought-provoking book called Uncontrollable: The Threat of Artificial Superintelligence and the […] The post SGEM Xtra: Machines – Or Back to Human first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Reference: Aronson PL, et al. Prediction Rule to Identify Febrile Infants 61–90 Days at Low Risk for Invasive Bacterial Infections. Pediatrics. September 2025 Date: January 6, 2026 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Jillian Nickerson is a pediatric emergency medicine attending at Children’s National Hospital and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine at The George Washington University […] The post SGEM#501: Here it Goes Again – Another Clinical Decision Rule for Febrile Infants 61-90 Days first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: January 17, 2026 Reference: Casey et al. RSI Investigators and the Pragmatic Critical Care Research Group. Ketamine or Etomidate for Tracheal Intubation of Critically Ill Adults. NEJM. 2025 Dec Guest Skeptic: Dr. Scott Weingart is an ED Intensivist from New York. He did fellowships in Trauma, Surgical Critical Care, and ECMO. Scott is best […] The post SGEM#500: Don’t You Want Me – Etomidate or Ketamine for Induction of Critically Ill Patients first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: January 5, 2026 Reference: Robblee et al. 2025 guideline update to acute treatment of migraine for adults in the emergency department: The American Headache Society evidence assessment of parenteral pharmacotherapies. Headache 2025 Dec Happy New Year, SGEMers! What better way to start 2026 than with an SGEM Xtra about migraine headaches? We were originally […] The post SGEM Xtra: Hit Me with Your Best Block – 2025 AHS ED Migraine Guidelines first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: December 23, 2025 Reference: Todd et al. Antihypertensive prescription is associated with improved 30-day outcomes for discharged hypertensive emergency department patients. J Am Coll Emerg Physicians Open. 2024 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Mike Pallaci is a Professor of Emergency Medicine at Northeast Ohio Medical University and a Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine at Ohio University […] The post SGEM#499: Under Pressure – To Start Antihypertensives in Hypertensive ED Patients at Discharge first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: November 27, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Justin Morgenstern is an emergency physician and the creator of the #FOAMed project called www.First10EM.com Case: You are looking after a 65-year-old man who appears to be in septic shock. He presented after five days of fever and cough, and is now severely lethargic and hypotensive on arrival. You […] The post SGEM#498: Andromeda – Cap Refill Time for Personalized Sepsis Treatment first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: Dec 17, 2025 Reference: Pagnini F, et al. Unexpected events and prosocial behavior: the Batman effect. npj Mental Health Research. November 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Dennis Ren is a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Children’s National in Washington, DC. You may also know him as the host of SGEM Peds. Case: It’s been a dark, […] The post SGEM#497: We Could be Heroes – Just with a Little Help from Batman first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Reference: Binder ZW et al. “Ultrasound-Guided Nerve Block for Pediatric Femur Fractures in the Emergency Department: A Prospective Multi-Center Study.” Academic Emergency Medicine, 2025. Date: November 24, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Lauren Westafer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Baystate. She is the co-founder […] The post SGEM#496: Hangin’ Tough after a Nerve Block for Pediatric Femur Fractures first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.