Latest news with #emergencyMedicine
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘The Pitt' Season 2 Casts ‘The L Word: Generation Q' Alum Sepideh Moafi
'The Pitt' has added Sepideh Moafi to the cast of the show's second season. Production on the hit Max series began earlier in June in Los Angeles. Moafi will appear in a series regular role as an attending physician in emergency medicine. More from Variety 'Sinners' Sets Max Streaming Release Date 'The Pitt,' 'Nobody Wants This,' 'Only Murders in The Building' Publicity Campaigns Win at 2025 TPEC Awards 'The Pitt' Season 2 Begins Production in Los Angeles 'The Pitt' was renewed for Season 2 back in February, roughly one month after it premiered. Led by series star Noah Wyle, the show is described as a 'realistic examination of the challenges facing healthcare workers in today's America as seen through the lens of the frontline heroes working in a modern-day hospital in Pittsburgh.' Moafi previously starred in the critically-acclaimed HBO series 'The Deuce' as well as the Showtime series 'The L Word: Generation Q.' Her recent credits also include 'Class of '09' at FX/Hulu as well as the miniseries 'Blackbird' at Apple TV+. She has also starred in films like 'I'll Be Right There,' 'The Killing of Two Lovers,' and 'The Arrangements.' She is repped by Principal Entertainment LA, Gersh, ID Public Relations, and Schreck Rose. Season 1, which consisted of 15 episodes, was structured in a way in which each episode took place over one hour of a 15-hour shift at the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital. Along with Wyle, the cast for Season 1 included Tracey Ifeachor, Patrick Ball, Katherine LaNasa, Supriya Ganesh, Fiona Dourif, Taylor Dearden, Isa Briones, Gerran Howell, and Shabana Azeez. R. Scott Gemmill created the series and serves as an executive producer. Wyle is also an executive producer along with John Wells and Erin Jontow of John Wells Productions, Michael Hissrich and Simran Baidwan. Warner Bros. Television, where John Wells Productions is under an overall deal, is the studio. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts? 25 Hollywood Legends Who Deserve an Honorary Oscar
CBC
07-07-2025
- Health
- CBC
ER doctor challenges Alberta premier to come on shift, see patients wait in hallways
Social Sharing The head of emergency medicine for Alberta's doctors association is challenging Premier Danielle Smith to join him on shift to see the frustration of patients jammed for hours in hallways and the moral injury of doctors looking into the eyes of the those who wait. "It's this kind of vicarious trauma, this inability to help when we're helpers, that is causing us to leave," Dr. Warren Thirsk said in an interview. "Unless you experience it, you don't really get it. "When the premier has a health emergency, do you think she's going to sit in my waiting room and wait 13 hours to be seen? "I would challenge her to come and sit in my waiting room for 13 hours." Thirsk made the comments in the wake of a new survey measuring patients' experiences released late last week by the Alberta Medical Association, which represents the province's physicians. Thirsk is the association's head of emergency medicine and works in the emergency ward of Edmonton's downtown Royal Alexandra Hospital. He said when he arrived for a recent 6 a.m. shift, the hallway was already full of patients brought in by ambulance the night before. Some had been waiting 14 hours. He remembers one patient with a broken hip had been there four hours and needed an operation. This one had to be treated first. "When I looked after that patient in the hallway with a broken hip, I had to stare into the eyes of the other 13 people down that hallway who all watched me walk up to one person and not them," Thirsk said. "I have the haunted stares of every other person who's looking at me, saying, `Why aren't you in front [helping] me?"' The hip patient was seen and admitted into the hospital, he said, but then had to wait another six hours in the hallway before being moved. Thirsk said he's seeing a trend of increasing wait times in a system that can't keep up with a provincial population now close to five million. He said he is also seeing frustration, with patients finally giving up the emergency room wait and walking out the door, potentially making their condition worse. "They might come back the next day, or they come back by ambulance, even sicker," he said. The association's survey was taken by just over 1,100 Albertans. It cannot be assigned a margin of error because online surveys are not considered random samples. The survey suggests that in the last year, almost one in five patients waiting for emergency care gave up the wait and walked out instead. Dr. Shelley Duggan, the association's president, labelled the numbers "disturbing" and attributed them to many factors: lack of specialists; patients left in hospital because of no room in continuing care; and not enough family doctors. "It's a very complex issue — it's not just one simple fix," Duggan said in an interview. Duggan said their survey reflects national challenges that aren't unique to Alberta, and although most patients are satisfied with their care when they can get it, access here remains a "huge problem." The Alberta government disputes the survey's numbers, saying they don't reflect broader health data. The province says the percentage of those leaving the ER without being seen is around 10 per cent in Alberta's top 16 hospitals. Kyle Warner, press secretary to Hospital Services Minister Matt Jones, said only two hospitals saw one in five patients leaving the ER early. "Delays in Alberta's ED are shorter than in other large provinces and we are one of the top performers in the country — but that's still not good enough," Warner said in an emailed statement. "We know there is more work to do, and we continue to focus on recruitment." Numbers published by Health Quality Alberta, the agency that gathers data for the province, show the number of people who leave before being seen varies depending on the hospital. At Royal Alexandra Hospital, it was as high as almost 22 per cent per cent of patients last fall. At Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary, the average was eight per cent. But across the board, that number has crept higher than it was in 2020, even in medium-sized urban hospitals like Northern Lights Regional in Fort McMurray, where the average was 5.6 per cent late last year. NDP Opposition health critic Sarah Hoffman said in a statement it's unacceptable that so many Albertans are without a family doctor and that emergency room wait times remain dangerously high. "Despite a promise to improve the system, Danielle Smith's UCP government has only deepened the chaos," said Hoffman.
CTV News
07-07-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Alberta ER doc challenges premier to come on shift, see patients wait in hallways
The head of emergency medicine for Alberta's doctors association is challenging Premier Danielle Smith to join him on shift to see the frustration of patients jammed for hours in hallways and the moral injury of doctors looking into the eyes of the those who wait. 'It's this kind of vicarious trauma, this inability to help when we're helpers, that is causing us to leave,' Dr. Warren Thirsk said in an interview. 'Unless you experience it, you don't really get it. 'When the premier has a health emergency, do you think she's going to sit in my waiting room and wait 13 hours to be seen? 'I would challenge her to come and sit in my waiting room for 13 hours.' Thirsk made the comments in the wake of a new survey measuring patients' experiences released late last week by the Alberta Medical Association, which represents the province's physicians. Thirsk is the association's head of emergency medicine and works in the emergency ward of Edmonton's downtown Royal Alexandra Hospital. He said when he arrived for a recent 6 a.m. shift, the hallway was already full of patients brought in by ambulance the night before. Some had been waiting 14 hours. He remembers one patient with a broken hip had been there four hours and needed an operation. This one had to be treated first. 'When I looked after that patient in the hallway with a broken hip, I had to stare into the eyes of the other 13 people down that hallway who all watched me walk up to one person and not them,' Thirsk said. 'I have the haunted stares of every other person who's looking at me, saying, 'Why aren't you in front (helping) me?'' The hip patient was seen and admitted into the hospital, he said, but then had to wait another six hours in the hallway before being moved. Thirsk said he's seeing a trend of increasing wait times in a system that can't keep up with a provincial population now close to five million. He said he is also seeing frustration, with patients finally giving up the emergency room wait and walking out the door, potentially making their condition worse. 'They might come back the next day, or they come back by ambulance, even sicker,' he said. The association's survey was taken by just over 1,100 Albertans. It cannot be assigned a margin of error because online surveys are not considered random samples. The survey suggests that in the last year, almost one in five patients waiting for emergency care gave up the wait and walked out instead. Dr. Shelley Duggan, the association's president, labelled the numbers 'disturbing' and attributed them to many factors: lack of specialists; patients left in hospital because of no room in continuing care; and not enough family doctors. 'It's a very complex issue - it's not just one simple fix,' Duggan said in an interview. Duggan said their survey reflects national challenges that aren't unique to Alberta, and although most patients are satisfied with their care when they can get it, access here remains a 'huge problem.' The Alberta government disputes the survey's numbers, saying they don't reflect broader health data. The province says the percentage of those leaving the ER without being seen is around 10 per cent in Alberta's top 16 hospitals. Kyle Warner, press secretary to Hospital Services Minister Matt Jones, said only two hospitals saw one in five patients leaving the ER early. 'Delays in Alberta's ED are shorter than in other large provinces and we are one of the top performers in the country — but that's still not good enough," Warner said in an emailed statement. 'We know there is more work to do, and we continue to focus on recruitment.' Numbers published by Health Quality Alberta, the agency that gathers data for the province, show the number of people who leave before being seen varies depending on the hospital. At Royal Alexandra Hospital, it was as high as almost 22 per cent per cent of patients last fall. At Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary, the average was eight per cent. But across the board, that number has crept higher than it was in 2020, even in medium-sized urban hospitals like Northern Lights Regional in Fort McMurray, where the average was 5.6 per cent late last year. NDP Opposition health critic Sarah Hoffman said in a statement it's unacceptable that so many Albertans are without a family doctor and that emergency room wait times remain dangerously high. 'Despite a promise to improve the system, Danielle Smith's UCP government has only deepened the chaos,' said Hoffman. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 7, 2025. Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press
Daily Mail
03-06-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Urgent warning over hospitalisation risk from common medications that Aussies use daily
Medicines like paracetamol and antidepressants are contributing to an alarming number of children visiting emergency wards. Parents grabbing over the counter medicine to help their children is causing a startling number of hospital visits, researchers say. Almost 100 children and teenagers are being taken to emergency departments every day after taking over-the-counter medicines such as paracetamol and antidepressants. At least half of these visits are preventable due to being accidental or intentional overdoses on adult-only medication, University of South Australia researchers said. The Royal Children's Hospital emergency medicine director says intentional overdoses can be particularly concerning. '(Paracetamol) is one of the scary medications where early on, there may be very minimal symptoms,' Stuart Lewena told AAP. 'It's only going to be when the paracetamol is starting to cause damage to the liver (when) we'll start to see symptoms of nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.' In the case of accidental ingestions, he said parents and carers can be 'flustered, anxious, worried about the error they've made', delaying treatment. 'We've spent a lot of our time decreasing how confronting they're finding it,' he said. Dr Lewena said hospitals are stretched and urged parents to keep medication out of children's reach. Parents should particularly keep an eye on prescription medications as one tablet can cause harm to children. 'Kids are incredibly resourceful at getting to things that they know they're not meant to get to,' Dr Lewena said. 'It's worthwhile having a discussion with your pharmacist or doctor to know ... "how risky is this in my household?".' Imaina Widagdo, who led the UniSA research, says more needs to be done to protect the health of children, who have more adverse reactions to medicine than adults. 'Unlike adults, children have developing bodies, which means they can respond to medicines differently than adults,' Dr Widagdo said. 'Secondly, because medicines are rarely trialled with children, the doses, safety and efficacy of certain medicines may not be fully known or always accurate.' In February, the federal government changed the number of paracetamol tablets per pack from 20 to 16 in general stores. The number is 50 in pharmacy medicine packs.
CNA
24-05-2025
- Health
- CNA
Exposure to high stress at our jobs can harm us in the long run. How do we handle the pressure?
One moment, he is in Singapore and the next, he is in another country helping to transport a patient across country borders. In an aeroplane with limited resources, sick patients and worried family members thousands of metres above the ocean, stress is all too common for Dr Charles Johnson, an emergency medicine physician. While he has since adapted to the pressure and irregular hours since become a doctor more than 30 years ago, the 56-year-old told CNA TODAY that it took him over a decade to get used to the high amount of stress associated with his job. 'When the patient is critically ill, we're working under time pressure with limited resources on the plane,' he said. 'You can't go to the nearest hospital because you're in a plane in the middle of the ocean ... and there are things you can't control like bad weather and turbulence. But I just trust myself that in the moment, I do the right thing and the best I can." Although individuals such as Dr Johnson eventually find a way to function efficiently and more comfortably in such environments, health experts told CNA TODAY that constant exposure to high-stress environments can be harmful, leaving a lasting impact on mental health and decision-making capabilities. LITTLE MARGIN FOR ERROR High-pressure jobs often have tight timelines and place great pressure on people to do everything perfectly because mistakes can have dire consequences. This can be those in the financial services who deal with clients who might give them pressure to perform, to those in the medical field or law enforcement officers who face life-or-death situations often. People who work in other sectors may not face such high pressure situations on a regular basis but may be exposed to them on occasion. Ms Sandhya Aswani, a mental health counsellor from social enterprise It All Starts Hear, said several factors contribute to a high-pressure work environment. For instance, the nature of the job could be fast-paced with tight deadlines, or people are expected to deal with critical situations such as emergency response settings. 'Such environments can be physically and emotionally demanding, requiring you to make quick decisions on the go. These decisions often have high impact and lasting consequences,' she said. Beyond that, such jobs may have little margin for error and employees may have high expectations placed on them. 'All of this is magnified in environments with little support or healthy avenues for employees to cope with stress,' Ms Sandhya said. THE RISKS OF A HIGH-PRESSURE JOB Dr Annabelle Chow, principal clinical psychologist at Annabelle Psychology, said that when people are placed in high-pressure situations, their brain kicks into survival mode by activating their sympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system activates the fight-or-flight response when faced with a threat of perceived danger, by releasing adrenaline and cortisol, a stress hormone. 'Although natural stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline play useful roles in enhancing brain function and increasing blood glucose levels for immediate muscle action, these benefits are only short-term,' she said. 'Key functions such as decision making and emotional processing start to break down, making it harder to stay clear-headed.' In the long run, Dr Chow warned that chronic stress can affect the brain, especially when it comes to memory, emotional regulation and decision making. 'Over time, it also increases the risk of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and dementia,' she added. 'Essentially, prolonged stress causes the brain to function in ways that are non-optimal, making it harder for individuals to cope with and respond to situations appropriately.' She noted that several studies have shown that chronic stress can reduce the size of the part of the human brain that makes learning and forming new memories difficult. The amygdala, a part of the brain that regulates emotions, can become overactive as well, making people more prone to anxiety or mood swings. For people holding high-pressure jobs where there can be life-or-death outcomes – such as doctors and firefighters – witnessing tragedies as a result of a mistake can also result in survivor's guilt or post-traumatic stress disorder, she added. MANAGE THE PRESSURE WITHOUT LEAVING THE JOB Ultimately, people in high-stress jobs may not be able to escape the pressure entirely without giving up on their careers. However, the experts said there are practical ways to manage the stress. Ms Vivien Tay, a senior counsellor at New Leaf, said it is essential to stay connected to the purpose that drives our work, and trust the judgments that we have learnt through years of training, education and experience. 'While it is natural to feel the weight of others' expectations, staying grounded in your professional training and experience is key to making informed and sound decisions.' She also said that having a supportive network of trusted professionals such as colleagues, mentors or supervisors can help refocus your thinking and assist when the weight of the decision feels overwhelming. 'Maintaining sound decision-making in high-pressure, life-and-death situations requires a balance of self-awareness, support and practical techniques to manage stress,' she added. 'By staying true to your professional training, embracing collaboration and recognising the uncertainty inherent in complex situations, you can navigate high-stakes situations with composure, clarity and confidence.' Dr Chow warned against habits such as skipping meals or sacrificing sleep that negatively affect mental clarity in high-pressure jobs. 'While these may seem like quick solutions, they have significant consequences for mental clarity. The brain requires adequate fuel from food to function optimally and without regular meals, cognitive performance – including concentration, memory and decision making – suffers,' she said. 'To break free from these unproductive patterns, it is essential to replace them with healthier alternatives that prioritise self-care and well-being so that we can be productive in a more sustainable manner.' She said that adopting relaxation techniques such as diaphragmatic breathing, which involves slow and deep breaths to help promote relaxation, can help reduce stress throughout he day. When possible, taking short and regular breaks throughout the workday can help prevent mental fatigue, Dr Chow added. It is also important to take care of yourself by staying hydrated and getting enough sleep each day. 'Mental clarity is influenced by a combination of physiological, emotional and cognitive factors,' she said. 'It is important to remember that change does not need to happen all at once. The key to long-lasting transformation is to start small. Choose one area where you feel most ready to improve. Perhaps it is committing to getting enough sleep or tackling tasks before they pile up.' For Dr Johnson, adopting "lifestyle medicine" has helped him stay clear-headed and reduce his stress levels so that he is able to do his best at work while in "the right mind space". Lifestyle medicine is a medical multidisciplinary specialty that looks at making healthy lifestyle interventions to prevent and reverse the root causes of health challenges such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension and more. Dr Johnson said he has turned to a diet that avoids meats and ultra-processed food. He exercises often and tries his best to get enough restful sleep. 'It is these little things that help me stay healthy and clear-headed so I can handle work ... and reminding myself that I've tried my best and given my all whenever I'm (on call).'
