Critical Care Tricks to Avoid Critical Care Admissions

Wednesday, April 9, 2025

8:00am – 8:50am ET

Location: Versailles - 2nd Level

CE: 0.75 CME Credit

Speaker(s)

Alexander Bracey, MD

Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine
Albany Medical Center
Albany, New York

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose
Luke J. Duncan, MD (he/him/his)

Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine
Albany Medical Center
Albany, New York

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose
Skyler Lentz, MD FAAEM (he/him/his)

Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Medicine
Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont
Williston, Vermont

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose

Disclosure(s):

Alexander Bracey, MD: No financial relationships to disclose

Luke J. Duncan, MD: No financial relationships to disclose

Skyler Lentz, MD FAAEM: No financial relationships to disclose

“Disposition is king” was a common phrase from EM residency faculty .That directive is now waylaid at many training programs by boarding patients and prolonged care of the critically ill. With a change in mindset and practice, we can offer more to our patients than “just a place to wait for an ICU bed”. We will share a few tricks that EVERY emergency physician can leverage to maximize the care their care for boarding ICU patients: ED extubation, early administration of basal insulin in DKA, and choosing the right sedation package to minimize ICU length of stay. A focus on progressing the patient away from an “ICU level of care” will make the time spent boarding productive and potentially avoid an ICU admission altogether.

Learning Objectives:

describe the use of basal insulin and balanced salt solutions to progress DKA patients more efficiently.
describe the process of selecting patients for extubation in the emergency department.
describe the optimal sedation agents for critically ill patients that have been shown to reduce their ICU length of stay.