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.

Date: December 4, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Jestin Carlson – Long-time listener, second-time guest. Reference: Reinaud et al. Reporting of Noninferiority Margins on ClinicalTrials.gov: A Systematic Review. JAMA Netw Open. 2025 Case: You are working with a resident who asks you about a new thrombolytic they heard about on the SGEM for acute ischemic stroke. […] The post SGEM#495: Tell Me Lies, Tell Me Sweet Little Lies – Reporting of Noninferiority Margins on ClinicalTrials.gov. first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: November 26, 2025 Reference: Ray et al. Emergency Department Visit Frequency Among Adults with Chronic Abdominal Pain: Findings From the 2023 US National Health Interview Survey. AEM November 2025. Guest Skeptic: Dr. Kirsty Challen is a Consultant in Emergency Medicine in the UK and an evidence-based medicine advocate. She’s a seasoned knowledge translator with […] The post SGEM#494: Another day for you and me in pain – Chronic Abdominal Pain and ED visits first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: November 8, 2025 Reference: Millin M, et al., Prehospital Trauma Compendium: Prehospital Management of Spinal Cord Injuries – A NAEMSP Comprehensive Review and Analysis of the Literature, Prehospital Emergency Care, Aug 2025. Guest Skeptic: Clay Odell, BSN, NRP, RN, is a Paramedic Firefighter with Newport (NH) Fire-EMS. He is a past Chief of the […] The post SGEM#493: You Can’t Hold Me Down with Spinal Motion Restrictions first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: November 12, 2025 Reference: Taccone et al. Restrictive vs Liberal Transfusion Strategy in Patients With Acute Brain Injury The TRAIN Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA 2024 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Alex Weiler is an Emergency Department staff physician in the Peterborough Regional Health Centre and is an associate professor with Queen’s University Department of Family Medicine. […] The post SGEM#492: Give Blood – To Anemic Patients with Acute Brain Injuries first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: October 17, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Kristen Panthagani is an emergency medicine resident and Yale Emergency Scholar at Yale New Haven Hospital. She’s a physician-scientist, having completed her MD/PhD at Baylor College of Medicine. She’s also well known as a science communicator, creator of You Can Know Things which helps explain science in a […] The post SGEM Xtra: Talkin’ Bout a Revolution…Training Health Communicators first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: October 30, 2025 Reference: Boes et al. Prevalence of violence against health care workers among agitated patients in an urban emergency department. October 2025 AEM Guest Skeptic: Dr. Suchismita Datta. She is an Assistant Professor and Director of Research in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the NYU Grossman Long Island Hospital Campus. Case: […] The post SGEM#491: Prevalence of violence against health care workers among agitated patients in an urban emergency department first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Reference: Boutin A, et al. Removable Boot vs Casting of Toddler’s Fractures: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Pediatr. Published April 2025. Date: July 23, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Andrew (Andy) Tagg is an Emergency Physician with a special interest in education and lifelong learning. He is the co-founder and website lead of Don’t Forget the […] The post SGEM#490: These (Removable) Boots are Made for Walking first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: October 10, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Sergey Motov is an Emergency Physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine, Maimonides Medical Center in New York City. He is also one of the world’s leading researchers on pain management in the emergency department. Case: A 37-year-old man presents to the emergency department (ED) with severe right-sided flank pain. […] The post SGEM#489: Smooth Muscle Relaxator – But does Magnesium Work for Renal Colic? first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: October 3, 2025 Reference: Doheim et al. Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials on IV Thrombolysis in Patients With Minor Acute Ischemic Stroke. Neurology 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Casey Parker is a Rural Generalist, Evidence-based medicine enthusiast and Ultrasound Nerd. This episode was recorded live, in beautiful Broome, Australia, at the Spring Seminar on Emergency […] The post SGEM#488: It’s Just a Minor Stroke – Should We Still Lyse? first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Reference: George S, et al. Effectiveness of nasal high-flow oxygen during apnoea on hypoxaemia and intubation success in paediatric emergency and ICU settings: a randomised, controlled, open-label trial. Lancet Respir Med. March 2025 Date: July 10, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Spyridon Karageorgos is a Pediatric Chief Resident at Aghia Sophia Children’s Hospital, Athens, Greece and […] The post SGEM#487: Tell Me How I’m Supposed to Breathe with No Air? Nasal High Flow or Standard Care for Pediatric Intubation first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: September 18, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Neil Dasgupta is an Emergency Medicine (EM) physician and emergency department (ED) intensivist from Long Island, NY. He is the Vice Chair of the ED and Program Director of the EM residency program at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, NY. Reference: Doupnik et al. Impact of […] The post SGEM#486: Call Me, on the Line – Telemental Health for Suicide Prevention first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: Sept 16, 2025 Reference: Prada et al. Evaluation of the evidence on acetaminophen use and neurodevelopmental disorders using the Navigation Guide methodology. Environ Health. August 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Andrew Martin is an emergency physician practicing in Jacksonville, Florida. Case: A 27-year-old at 24 weeks’ gestation presents to the emergency department (ED) with fever (38.6 °C), myalgias, and […] The post SGEM#485: I Want a New Drug – One Not Associated with Neurodevelopmental Disorders first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: August 12, 2025. This is an SGEM Xtra, and today, we’re putting on our conference lanyards and boarding passes to talk about one of the most exciting events in the global EM calendar, IncrEMentuM 2026. For those who did not attend IncrEMentuM 2025, it set the bar incredibly high. From the moment delegates walked […] The post SGEM Xtra: Incrementum 2026 first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: August 12, 2025 Article: FDA Approved and Ineffective by Jeanne Lenzer and Shannon Brownlee. June 5, 2025. The Lever. Guest Skeptic: Jeanne Lenzer is a long-time medical investigative journalist and returning SGEM guest. Her previous work, including the book The Danger Within Us, explored how conflicts of interest and weak evidence can endanger patient care. In […] The post SGEM Xtra: Tell Me Lies, Sweet Little Lies – FDA Approved & Ineffective first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Reference: Jessen et al. Pharmacological interventions for the acute treatment of hyperkalaemia: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Resuscitation 2025 Date: August 6, 2025 Guest Skeptic: William Toon is a paramedic who, this past May achieved over 50 years of continuous EMS certification. His professional path has taken him from front-line paramedic to national presenter, expert witness, flight […] The post SGEM#484: The Warrior – Pharmacological Interventions for the Acute Treatment of Hyperkalemia first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: August 11, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Gillian Schmitz is a board-certified Emergency Physician practicing at The Naval Medical Center in San Diego. She is also a former President of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). This SGEM Xtra is inspired by the 1992 film A League of Their Own. Unlike our previous pop culture references like Buffy […] The post SGEM Xtra: Now and Forever – A League of Their Own (Women in EM) first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Reference: Otterness et al. The Use of TENS for the Treatment of Back Pain in the Emergency Department: A Randomized Controlled Trial. AEM Aug 2025 Date: August 22, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Lauren Westafer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Baystate. She is the […] The post SGEM#483: Electricity – TENS Units for Treating Back Pain first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Reference: Othman AA, et al. Combined ketamine and midazolam vs. midazolam alone for initial treatment of pediatric generalized convulsive status epilepticus (Ket-Mid study): A randomized controlled trial. Pediatric Neurology. June 2025 Date: May 27, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. James Chamberlain is a pediatric emergency medicine attending physician at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC where […] The post SGEM#482: Seize the Day with Ketamine and Midazolam for Pediatric Status Epilepticus first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: July 10, 2025 Guest Skeptics: Professor Timothy Caulfield is a Canadian professor of law at the University of Alberta, the Research Director of its Health Law Institute. His area of expertise is in legal, policy and ethical issues in medical research and its commercialization. This is another SGEM Xtra book review. Tim was our guest skeptic a […] The post SGEM Xtra: Illusion – What you Don’t Know and Why it Matters first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Reference: Kemal et al. Emergency department utilization by youth before and after firearm injury. AEM July 2025 Date: July 28, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Kirsty Challen is a Consultant in Emergency Medicine in the UK and an evidence-based medicine advocate. She’s a seasoned knowledge translator with her wonderful PaperinaPic infographics. Case: Your non-US emergency […] The post SGEM#481: Shot Through the Chart And You’re to Blame – But Can We Intervene? first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Reference: Bourke EM, et al. PEAChY-O: Pharmacological Emergency Management of Agitation in Children and Young People: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Oral Medication. Annals of Emergency Medicine. Feb 2025 Date: April 29, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Brad Sobolewski, is a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Professor of Pediatrics at the University […] The post SGEM#480: In the End It Doesn’t Even Matter: Oral Olanzapine or Diazepam for Pediatric Agitation first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: July 9, 2025 Guest Skeptics: Dr. Cindy Bitter is an Associate Professor in the Division of Emergency Medicine at Saint Louis University. She has a Master’s in Bioethics, and she is passionate about EM capacity building and physician resilience, especially improving wellness through time in nature.   Dr. Amy Bi is a graduate from […] The post SGEM Xtra: Career Advice from Buffy the Vampire Slayer first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Reference: Arnold CG, et al. Performance of individual criteria of the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) intraabdominal injury prediction rule. Acad Emerg Med. Jan 2025 Date: May 7, 2025 Guest Skeptic : Dr. Sandi Angus is a Paediatric and Adult Emergency Medicine Registrar in the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust. She is passionate about […] The post SGEM #479: Light Em Up Up Up (CT) or Not for Pediatric Blunt Abdominal Trauma? first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Reference: Solnick et al. Sex Disparities in Chlamydia and Gonorrhea Treatment in US Adult Emergency Departments: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. AEM June 2025 Date: June 24, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Suchismita Datta. She is an Assistant Professor and Director of Research in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the NYU Grossman Long Island Hospital […] The post SGEM#478: If I Were a Man: Sex-Based Disparities in the Treatment of STIs first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Reference: Ye et al. Preoxygenation strategies before intubation in patients with acute hypoxic respiratory failure: a network meta-analysis. Frontiers in Medicine. 2025 Feb Date: June 12, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Aine Yore is an Emergency Physician, practicing in the Seattle, Washington area for over twenty years. She is the former president of the Washington chapter […] The post SGEM#477: I Can Feel It Coming In the Air Tonight…But By Which Pre-Oxygenation Strategy first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: June 2, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Andrew (Andy) Tagg is an Emergency Physician with a special interest in education and lifelong learning. He is the co-founder and website lead of Don’t Forget the Bubbles. This is another SGEM Xtra that talks about what we can learn about being physicians from certain pop culture (TV […] The post SGEM Xtra: Your Mission, Should You Choose to Accept It – To Be an EM Doc first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: May 14, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Ross Prager is an Intensivist at the London Health Sciences Centre and an adjunct professor at Western University. His expertise in critical care medicine is complemented by his research interests in critical care ultrasound and evidence-based knowledge translation. This is an SGEM Xtra episode. The inspiration was a […] The post SGEM Xtra: Ten Lessons They Don’t Teach in Medical School (But Should) first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Reference: St Peter, et al. Appendicectomy versus antibiotics for acute uncomplicated appendicitis in children: an open-label, international, multicentre, randomized noni-inferiority trial. The Lancet. Jan 2025 Date: March 19, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Camille Wu is a paediatric surgeon based at Sydney Children’s Hospital where she is the Head of Department. She is also on the […] The post SGEM#476: Cuts like a Knife or Antibiotics for Pediatric Appendicitis first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Reference: Cohen et al; SUSPECT study group. Can we avoid casting for suspected scaphoid fractures? A multicenter randomized controlled trial. J Orthop Traumatol. 2025 Date: May 1, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Dr. Matt Schmitz is an orthopedic surgeon specializing in Adolescent Sports Medicine and Young Adult Hip Preservation. He practices at the Rady Children’s Hospital in […] The post SGEM#475: Break on Through to the Other Side – Management of Clinical Scaphoid Fractures first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.

Date: May 6, 2025 Guest Skeptic: Actor, producer and director Noah Wyle. Many of us know him as Dr. John Carter from ER, the show that arguably influenced an entire generation of EM physicians. Since that groundbreaking show, he has been busy with multiple movie roles (Pirates of Silicon Valley, Donnie Darko, White Oleander, Shot, and […] The post SGEM Xtra: Doctor, Doctor – Paging Dr. Robby first appeared on The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine.