About Brad Sobolewski, MD, MEd

Brad Sobolewski, MD, MEd is a Professor of Pediatric Emergency Medicine and the Associate Director of Physician and Team-Based Education at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. He is on Twitter/X @PEMTweets, on Instagram @BradSobolewski, authors the Pediatric Emergency Medicine site PEMBlog and is the host and creator of PEM Currents: The Pediatric Emergency Medicine Podcast. All views are strictly my own and not official medical advice.

A dissociative state of mind: Talking to parents about ketamine

By |2016-12-14T12:56:48-05:00March 18th, 2015|Procedures|

This post was contributed by Lauren Riney, one of the excellent Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellows at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. So you’ve got another procedural sedation to do in the pediatric emergency department. If your ED is anything like ours, your options for sedation include ketamine, ketamine, and, well, more ketamine. The pharmacology of ketamine is totally different from [...]

About saving time in the ED

By |2016-12-14T12:56:48-05:00March 16th, 2015|Art of Medicine|

I have delved into similar topics before, but I wanted to highlight something I read on Academic Life in Emergency Medicine this weekend. They have been running a series entitled "How I work smarter" that features leaders in the field talking about various aspects of their careers. This weekend's entry from Dr. Rick Body contained a powerful bit of advice [...]

Listen to the new PEM Currents podcast: An interview with bronchiolitis guru Todd Florin

By |2015-03-09T19:38:43-04:00March 10th, 2015|Infectious Diseases, Podcasts|

I'm delighted to share the latest PEM Currents podcast! I recently sat down with Todd Florin, one of the faculty physicians at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and talked about bronchiolitis, delving into the controversies around the use of hypertonic saline, albuterol and more. Todd also recommended that all of my listeners check out the current AAP Bronchiolitis Guideline, which [...]

Are you pro Procalcitonin?

By |2016-12-14T12:56:48-05:00March 3rd, 2015|Infectious Diseases|

Whenever you order a lab you must ask yourself the following questions? Why am I ordering this test? What am I going to do with the result? Given that PCT has become a frequently ordered test for many of you I wanted to answer some straightforward questions, and dive into the body of evidence to help support your decision making [...]

PEMBlog updates (New baby edition)

By |2015-02-26T14:59:50-05:00February 26th, 2015|PEMBlog Updates|

Sorry that there's not been a new post this week - our third son was born and he requires some attention. Babies can be so selfish. Anyway, more great content coming soon - including: An in depth post on procalcitonin A podcast interview with Todd Florin, one of the Pediatric Emergency Medicine faculty at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center on [...]

Do vagal maneuvers actually work on SVT in children?

By |2016-12-14T12:56:48-05:00February 20th, 2015|Cardiology|

So you've gone ahead and diagnosed supra ventricular tachycardia. While getting ready to place an IV and draw up adenosine somebody (a seasoned RN perhaps) suggests that you try vagal maneuvers. Perhaps you're feeling pessimistic that day, and wondering if they ever work. And, which one should you choose anyway? Let's answer both questions. How should vagal maneuvers be performed [...]

Briefs: Assessing and staging burn severity

By |2016-12-14T12:56:49-05:00February 19th, 2015|Briefs, Trauma|

It's cold out and people are trying to warm themselves up by any means necessary. In the Emergency Department that means you may end up seeing some burns. It is important not only to assess these burns, but also determine what percentage of the body surface area is superficial versus partial AND full thickness. Wait a second... Aren't we supposed [...]

Evaluation of a clinical prediction model for febrile children with SBI

By |2015-02-17T16:26:25-05:00February 17th, 2015|Article Reviews, Infectious Diseases|

It goes without saying that a clinical prediction rule, and for that matter an associated online tool (one of which in particular we'll get to in a minute) is only as good as your initial clinical judgment and as practical as the environment in which you work. These types of rules also need to be grounded in solid methodology with [...]

Three reasons why you should not give diphenhydramine as pretreatment in migraines

By |2016-12-14T12:56:49-05:00February 12th, 2015|Neurology, Pharmacology|

If you're a regular reader of the blog you know that I've posted on migraines before. For instance, you can check out the "Why We Do What We Do" on antiemetics (prochlorperazine and metoclopramide). Other excellent Pediatric Emergency Medicine educators have posted on the topic recently as well - see Sean Fox's recent post on PedEMMorsels. I wanted to take [...]

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