The Allied Times

Nursemaid’s ElbowA common pediatric injury.By Marven Ewen, MDMedical DirectorOne of the most common pediatric injuries is nursemaid’s elbow. I have seen many of these in my career. The usual mechanism of injury is a sudden pulling on the child’s forearm or wrist, such as when a parent pulls a child away from traffic or some…

Misophonia An uncontrollable reaction to sounds.By Jenny Ewen, BA, NREMTEditor-In-ChiefHave you ever had someone tell you stop chewing so loudly? While you might have immediately assumed that person was just being overly sensitive, there’s actually a name for the disorder where certain sounds trigger a negative response: misophonia.People who have misophonia have an uncontrollable reaction…

Infectious Mononucleosis The “kissing disease” lingers on.Here’s what you should know about it.By Jenny Ewen, BA, NREMTEditor-In-ChiefWe all remember “the kissing disease” from adolescence, which is known as infectious mononucleosis, or mono. Since the virus spreads through saliva, it can be shared from kissing, but also from an uncovered cough or sneeze, or sharing food…

Scared To Death It can actually happen with this rare heart condition.By Marven Ewen, MDMedical DirectorOn a busy Sunday evening in the ED, an elderly man came in to be “checked out.” His story was that earlier that day he had been snacking on some peanuts while watching the football game.He choked on some of…

The Deer Hunter When mixing whiskey and hiking leads to the ER.By Marven Ewen, MDMedical DirectorIn the EMS field, it is not uncommon to have to care for intoxicated patients. Alcohol is often a factor in trauma. We sort of kept an informal record of the highest alcohol level we had seen in a patient.…

Hashimoto’s Disease This autoimmune disorder is the most common cause of hypothyroidism.By Jenny Ewen, BA, NREMTEditor-In-Chief Overview Hashimoto’s disease (also known as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis) is classified as an autoimmune disorder since it’s caused by the immune system attacking the thyroid to the point where it becomes damaged. The thyroid is a small butterfly shaped gland…