This lecture teaches a practical, systematic approach to interpreting hand X-rays in acute care settings. Learners will develop a reliable search pattern to reduce missed injuries, recognize subtle fractures and dislocations, and differentiate normal variants from true pathology. Emphasis is placed on clinically significant findings that change management, including occult fractures and unstable injuries. By the end, participants will have a clear framework to evaluate hand radiographs efficiently and confidently at the point of care.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize when to suspect an injury is accidental vs None accidental trauma. 
• Distinguish normal anatomy and common variants from acute injuries such as fractures, dislocations, and ligamentous injuries.
• Identify high-risk or easily missed pathologies, including scaphoid fractures, intra-articular injuries, and signs of infection or inflammatory disease.

Learning Objectives:

• Educate on the different between acute and chronic hives. 
• Review why steroids are not the best treatment for hives.
• Discuss how to appropriately manage patients who frequently present for hives complaints.

Sub-Specialty Credit:

• Allergy and Immunology; Emergency Medicine

Dialysis forms the core of end stage renal disease management--a fact many of us encounter all too frequently in our work. Whether peritoneal or hemodialysis, bypassing the kidney creates a wealth of opportunity for things to go wrong. Among the possibilities are steal syndrome, peritonitis, bacteremia, catheter dysfunction, hemorrhage, and more. Further, innovations such as the HeroGraft can improve the lives of our patients but may be foreign to us as emergency physicians.

Objectives:

• Explain the complications of peritoneal dialysis

• Explain the complications of hemodialysis

• Understand the advancements in ESRD management

We will review bleeding emergencies including presentation and treatment.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize a bleeding emergency 
• Review and discuss treatment of bleeding emergencies
• Review and discuss appropriate dispositions for bleeding emergencies in the emergency department 

This lecture uses case-based discussion and clinical experience to define heat illness, review current epidemiology, and clarify high-risk populations. We will outline early assessment and stabilization priorities, review essential equipment and procedures, and compare cooling strategies with a focus on cold water immersion as the most effective method for rapid temperature reduction. Participants will leave with a practical, evidencebased framework to confidently manage severe heat illness in their ED.

Snake envenomation in North America is uncommon but high stakes, requiring early recognition, risk stratification, and thoughtful management. This session provides a practical, ED focused approach to the evaluation and treatment of pit viper and coral snake bites, emphasizing clinical decisionmaking over memorization of species details. We will review initial assessment, grading of envenomation severity, indications and dosing strategies for antivenom, management of coagulopathy and compartment concerns, and common pitfalls that lead to under or overtreatment. Learners will leave with a clear framework to confidently manage snakebite patients in a variety of emergency settings.

Learning Objectives:

• Apply a structured approach to the initial assessment and risk stratification of suspected North American snake envenomation, including recognition of progressive local and systemic toxicity.
• Develop an evidence informed management plan that includes effective management, appropriate consultation, monitoring, and disposition decisions.
• Recognize common pitfalls in snakebite care and apply best practices to improve patient safety and clinical outcomes.

Heat illness is an escalating public health crisis and a leading cause of prevent able morbidity and mortality as global temper atures rise and extreme heat events become more frequent. From heat exhaustion to life-threatening heat stroke, severe hyperthermia requires rapid recognition, decisive management, and effective cooling to reduce organ failure and death. 

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize and risk stratify the full spectru m of heat illness, identifying patients at highest risk for rapid deterioration and organ failure.
• Implement evidence-based resuscitation and cooling strategies, including when and how to initiate cold water immersion in the emergency setting.
• Anticipate complications and guide disposition, integrating clinical response, laboratory findings, and patient factors to optimize outcomes.

The acutely injured knee is a frequent presentation in the emergency department, yet the physical examination is often inconsistently performed or overextended without clear impact on management. This session provides emergency physicians with a structured, evidence informed approach to the knee examination that emphasizes mechanism driven assessment, high value maneuvers, and clinically meaningful interpretation. The session will also address functional assessment, appropriate use of imaging, and documentation strategies that clearly communicate endpoint quality and stability to consultants. The focus is on performing a focused examination that directly informs imaging decisions, disposition, and follow up planning in the emergency setting.

Learning Objectives:

• Apply a mechanism driven, structured approach to the evaluation of the acutely injured knee in the emergency department.
• Perform and accurately interpret high value physical examination maneuvers for ligamentous, meniscal, patellar, and extensor mechanism injuries, with attention to diagnostic accuracy and common pitfalls.
• Integrate examination findings into imaging decisions, documentation, and disposition planning to guide efficient and evidence informed emergency care.

Initiating Buprenorphine (Suboxone) treatment in the emergency department represents a critical opportunity to engage patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) at a moment of high motivation and acute need. Through social work support, effective ED-based Buprenorphine initiation is strengthened through immediate linkage to ongoing community care and coordinated, stigma-free patient experience. This presentation highlights a collaborative model in which a dedicated team of social workers partners closely with emergency medicine clinicians to provide real-time assessment, motivational support, and warm handoffs to all levels of substance use treatment- including outpatient medication-assisted treatment (MAT), residential programs, intensive outpatient services, and harm-reduction supports.

Learning Objectives:

• Explain the evidence-based benefits of Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT), particularly Buprenorphine, in reducing overdose risk, improving treatment engagement, and supporting long-term recovery for patients with opioid use disorder initiated in the emergency department.
• Describe how integrating social workers into the ED workflows enhances the initiation of buprenorphine for patients with opioid use disorder through real-time assessment, motivational engagement, and warm handoffs to appropriate levels of community-based care. 
• Identify strategies for reducing stigma toward patients with substance use disorders in the emergency department by using trauma-informed, harm-reduction, and collaborative interdisciplinary practices that support continuity of treatment and improved patient outcomes.

We are going to take a journey using evidence based medicine looking at why we should consider questioning some of our practice and treatment habits. 

Learning Objectives:

• Examine some long held but not evidence supported practices in emergency medicine.
• Review the up to date literature that should guide adjusting our practice in areas of medication and medical management in 2026.  
• Discuss how to update our care to 2026 best practices. 

This session provides a practical approach to the evaluation and management of acute ocular trauma. Learners will review common mechanisms of injury and develop a structured approach to identifying both superficial and vision-threatening conditions, including hyphema, orbital fractures, globe rupture, retrobulbar hemorrhage, and penetrating eye injuries. Emphasis is placed on rapid recognition and time-sensitive interventions where early action is critical to preserving vision.

Learning Objectives:

• By the end of this session, participants will be able to: Perform a systematic evaluation of ocular trauma, incorporating mechanism of injury and key exam findings.
• By the end of this session, participants will be able to: Differentiate superficial injuries from vision-threatening conditions such as globe rupture, hyphema, orbital fractures, and retrobulbar hemorrhage.
• By the end of this session, participants will be able to: Initiate appropriate initial management, including protective measures, medical stabilization, and emergent interventions (e.g., lateral canthotomy) with timely ophthalmology consultation.

High yield evidence- based clinical overview of alternatives to opioids for acute pain management in emergency medicine. 

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss principles of acute pain management and opioid-sparing alternatives?
• Examine current literature supporting non-opioid pharmacotherapy and location specific pain management?
• Apply pharmacology knowledge and evidence-based literature into clinical decision making for implementation in the ED.?

Learning Objectives:

• Examine the actual and potential benefits of Artificial Intelligence in the Emergency Department specific to cognitive offloading.
• Understand the actual and potential problems of using Artificial Intelligence for cognitive offloading in the Emergency Department. 
• Postulate best practices for implementing and utilizing Artificial Intelligence in the Emergency Department.

Learning Objectives:

Appraise the CMS SEP-1 bundle.

Evaluate the practices of Lactate Worship, Fluid use, Early Vasopressors in sepsis.

What to stop doing for sepsis (don’t tell your hospital CEO) and what to consider doing in 2026.

• Identify key barriers to effective medical management in patients experiencing homelessness, including structural determinants, environmental limitations, and trauma-related factors.
• Apply practical modifications to common treatment strategies (e.g., hypertension, diabetes) that improve adherence and outcomes in resource-limited and unstable settings.
• Integrate a street-level framework into emergency department decision-making, including discharge planning, medication selection, and follow-up strategies tailored to real-world patient circumstances.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify key clinical findings suggestive of occult scaphoid fracture in the setting of negative initial radiographs
• Critically appraise the SUSPECT trial methodology and evaluate its implications for ED practice
• Compare traditional immobilization protocols with early mobilization strategies for suspected scaphoid fractures
• Apply evidence-based risk stratification to guide disposition and follow-up planning for wrist injuries

Learning Objectives:

• Illustrate the presentation of patients in status epilepticus.
• Discuss best practices for the initial pharmacological treatment of patients with status epilepticus, including first- and second-line anti-epileptics, infusion medications, and rapid sequence intubation.
• Discuss other interventions that should be performed in patients with status epilepticus prior to disposition.

Learning Objectives:

• Detail the appropriate transfusion ratios and other interventional components involved in a massive transfusion scenario.
• Describe the common transfusion reactions and how to respond to each.
• Identify and respond to acute cardiopulmonary decompensation during transfusion.

Emergency physicians function as high-performance cognitive athletes yet often neglect the same optimization strategies used for elite performers. This session reframes physician health as performance medicine, providing practical, actionable strategies to improve sleep, recovery, and overall function to enhance both personal well-being and patient care.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize physicians as high-performance cognitive athletes and identify the impact of sleep, nutrition, and recovery on clinical performance.
• Apply principles of performance medicine—including measurement, fueling, recovery, and load management—to personal health and professional function.
• Implement practical strategies, including basic health metrics and lifestyle interventions, to improve personal well-being and optimize patient care.