Research by UBC DEM’s Dr. Jessica Moe, Dr. Andrew Kestler, and Dr. Isabelle Miles call for evidence‑based national guidelines and system‑wide changes to emergency care for people with opioid use disorder”
In this publication the authors note how emergency departments must optimize safe, efficient, and timely care for people at risk of drug toxicity related death and opioid related harms. They highlight that between July 2024 and June 2025, 17 Canadians died per day of opioid toxicity, and individuals aged 30 to 39 comprised 26 percent […]
Outcomes for people experiencing homelessness with COVID-19 presenting to emergency departments in Canada, compared with housed patients
Congratulations to Dr. Shari Li, DEM Clinical Instructor, on her recent publication in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ). Dr. Li sought to ascertain whether rates of in-hospital mortality, hospital admission, critical care admission, and mechanical ventilation differed between people experiencing homelessness (PEH) and housed people with symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection. This raises the question of […]
Brain injury biomarker predicts outcome 48 hours after cardiac arrest
New research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and co-authored by Dr. Kiran Rikhraj, a third-year resident at the UBC Department of Emergency Medicine, reveals a correlation between the brain injury biomarker, neurofilament light (Nf-L), and outcomes of cardiac arrest patients.
UBC Department of Emergency Medicine Study Examines College Complaints Against Resident Physicians in Canada
New research published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) Open—which began as research project by a then second-year resident physician with the UBC Department of Emergency Medicine—highlights areas of potential practice improvement in medical education. The study, which analyzed complaints involving Canadian resident physicians between 2008 to 2017, found that problems with communication skills […]
More Canadians may be driving high since cannabis legalization: UBC study
THC is being detected in twice as many injured drivers since cannabis was legalized in Canada, according to new UBC Department of Emergency Medicine research published in the New England Journal of Medicine. UBC Emergency Medicine Associate Professor, Dr. Jeffrey Brubacher, and colleagues analyzed blood samples from 4,339 moderately injured drivers who were treated at four BC trauma centres between 2013 and 2020. The largest increase in blood THC concentrations was among drivers over the age of 50.
UBC study reveals link between medically prescribed opioids and injection drug use
Patients receiving chronic prescription opioid treatments for non-cancer pain are about eight times more likely to start injection drug use, according to a new study from Department of Emergency Medicine researchers at the UBC Faculty of Medicine and BC Centre for Disease Control published in The BMJ.
Emergency physicians need further education to improve care for suicidal patients
UBC Department of Emergency Medicine Clinical Associate Professor, Dr. Frank Scheuermeyer, and Clinical Assistant Professor, Dr. David Barbic, joined colleagues from UBC Department of Psychiatry and the UBC Faculty of Medicine in analyzing the attitudes of emergency physicians towards suicidal patients and measuring the skills and training of emergency physicians to care for these patients.
BC Sepsis Network estimated to have averted 172 deaths and saved the health-care system $50.6 million
A new study co-authored by UBC Department of Emergency Medicine Clinical Associate Professor, Dr. David Sweet, estimates that the British Columbia Sepsis Network averted 981 sepsis cases and 172 deaths between 2014 and 2018. By averting these cases, the healthcare system saved $50.6 million in 2018, according to findings recently published in Critical Care Medicine.
Scholarly Success of Department of Emergency Medicine PoCUS Fellowship Trainees
The UBC Department of Emergency Medicine Point of Care Ultrasound (PoCUS) Fellowship is proud to share several recent publications by trainees and alum. Véronique Dion, Former Fellow In July, Dr. Véronique Dion published her study “The physical examination is unreliable in determining the location of the distal fibular physis” in the American Journal of Emergency […]
UBC researchers identify the most dangerous prescriptions for B.C. drivers
A team of UBC researchers led by Dr. Jeff Brubacher, an Associate Professor in UBC’s Department of Emergency Medicine, investigated the risk of collision responsibility associated with common classes of prescription medications.