Heart of the Matter: A FoCUSed Diagnosis

January 31, 2026

A 38-year-old male presents to a community hospital emergency department at 3 a.m. and a rapid response is called to the front of the hospital. You respond, and the patient is alert but diaphoretic, weak, and displaying Levine’s sign (a fist clenched over his chest). His wife states that the chest pain started about 30 min prior to arrival. The patient is brought to your resuscitation bay, and his vital signs are as follows: BP 145/98, HR 99, RR 18, O2 93%. You ask for an EKG when then tech informs you that both of the EKG machines in the ED are broken, and we currently have no way of obtaining a tracing. What do you do in this scenario?

Michael Hohl MD, David Murray MD, and Ari Edelheit MD

Heart of the Matter: A Toxic Tachycardia

January 12, 2026

A 49-year-old male with a history of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and a history of opioid use disorder presents to the emergency department. The tech hands you this EKG (Figure 1) and says, “Hey doc, this patient states he has palpitations, they are going to R1.”

Taylor Wahrenbrock MD, Michael Hohl MD, Michael Nelson MD, and Ari Edelheit MD

Heart of the Matter: WCT

January 12, 2026

The patient is a 69-year-old female with past medical history of remote myocardial infarction status post stent placement 19 years ago, who is presenting for concern of chest pain. She states the pain started approximately 30 minutes prior to arrival and has shortness of breath as well as chest pressure. The pain radiates down her left arm.

Erica Dolph MD and Ari Edelheit

the County Consult