OBJECTIVE: To describe differences in funded grants between male and female faculty in two academic emergency departments. METHODS: This was a retrospective analysis of grant funding at two academic emergency departments from January 2012-September 2018. We queried the grants department databases at each institution and obtained records of all funded grants for emergency medicine (EM) faculty. We extracted the following information for each award: gender of the principal investigator (PI), PI academic rank, grant mechanism (government, institutional, industry, organizational), and percent effort. Differences by gender were compared using Chi-square or Fisher's exact test and Wilcoxon-rank sum. RESULTS: One-hundred and thirty grants were awarded to EM faculty at the two institutions during the study period. Of the funded grants, 35 (27%) of recipients were female. Among grant recipients, females held lower academic ranking than males (p-value < 0.001): Instructor (49% vs 51%), Assistant Professor (36% vs 64%), Associate Professor (9% vs 91%), and Professor (0% vs 100%), respectively. Organizational grants were dispersed equally between funded faculty, but females received a fewer government, industry, and institutional grants (p-value = 0.007). Female grant recipients were awarded a higher median percent of effort compared to males (14% [IQR: 3-51] vs 8% [IQR: 1-15], respectively, p-value = 0.023). CONCLUSION: In this multicenter analysis, gender discrepancies exist among funded grants of EM faculty. Male recipients had higher academic ranking than their female counterparts. Female recipients were less likely to have government, institutional, and industry grants but received a greater percent effort on funding that was awarded.

In this toolbox, the authors use the example of their own faculty member writing group to offer suggestions for setting up peer mentorship. They describe the potential pitfalls and recommend that participants share similar backgrounds, interests and aims. Regular meetings are important for goal setting and motivation. Group members review each other's work in a safe environment, and share in each other's successes.

Opioid overdose is a growing public health emergency in the United States. The antidote naloxone must be administered rapidly after opioid overdose to prevent death. Bystander or "take-home" naloxone programs distribute naloxone to opioid users and other community members to increase naloxone availability at the time of overdose. However, data describing the natural history of take-home naloxone in the hands of at-risk individuals is lacking. To understand patterns of naloxone uptake in at-risk users, we developed a smart naloxone kit that uses low-energy Bluetooth (BLE) to unobtrusively detect the transit of naloxone through a hospital campus. In this paper, we describe development of the smart naloxone kit and results from the first 10 participants in our pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to describe pediatric poisonings presenting to a rural Ugandan emergency department (ED), identifying demographic factors and causative agents. METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted in the ED of a rural hospital in the Rukungiri District of Uganda. A prospectively collected quality assurance database of ED visits was queried for poisonings in patients under the age of 5 who were admitted to the hospital. Cases were included if the chief complaint or final diagnosis included anything referable to poisoning, ingestion, or intoxication, or if a toxicologic antidote was administered. The database was coded by a blinded investigator, and descriptive statistics were performed. RESULTS: From November 9, 2009, to July 11, 2014, 3428 patients under the age of 5 were admitted to the hospital. A total of 123 cases (3.6%) met the inclusion criteria. Seventy-two patients were male (58.5%). The average age was 2.3 (SD, 0.97) years with 45 children (36.6%) under the age of 2 years. There were 19 cases (15.4%) lost to 3-day follow-up. The top 3 documented exposures responsible for pediatric poisonings were cow tick or organophosphates (36 cases, 29.2%), general poison or drug overdose (26 cases, 21.1%), and paraffin or hydrocarbon (24 cases, 19.5%).Of the admitted patients, 1 died in the ED and 2 died at 72-hour follow-up, for an overall 72-hour mortality of 2.4%. Patients who died were exposed to iron, cow tick, and rat poison. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric poisoning affects patients in rural sub-Saharan Africa. The mortality rate at one rural Ugandan hospital was greater than 2%.

A large number of medications and medical devices removed from the market by the US Food and Drug Administration over the past 4 decades specifically posed greater health risks to women. This article reviews the historical background of sex and gender in clinical research policy and describes several approved drugs and devices targeted for use in women that have caused major morbidity and mortality. The intended population for the medications and devices, population affected, approval process, and the basic and legal actions taken against the medication/drug company are also discussed. It is recognized that women are still at risk for harm from unsafe medications and devices, and continued improvements in legislation that promotes inclusion of sex and gender into the design and analysis of research will improve safety for both men and women.