PEER SUPPORT PROGRAM

Introducing the Cone Health Peer Support Program 

The Peer Support Program connects health care professionals with trained peer support volunteers for confidential support and resources after any adverse event.  Events may include but are not limited to unanticipated patient outcomes, loss of a patient, or verbal or physical assaults from patients or visitors.

Contacting the Peer Support Program

If you are interested in connecting with peer support, or have a colleague who you think may benefit from this program, you can simply contact the Peer Support Coordinator, Matthew Stalnaker, via email. Hover cursor over the Administrative link above to access the dropdown menu and click on Peer Support Program.

Emailing the coordinator will arrange for a trained peer support volunteer to connect with you. 

Osborn J waves

71 year old intoxicated patient found lying outside in the cold. Core temp 83 degrees.

The Osborn wave (J wave) is a positive deflection seen at the J point in precordial and true limb leads. It is most commonly associated with hypothermia. These changes will appear as a reciprocal, negative deflection in aVR and V1.

Osborn Wave Causes

Characteristically seen in hypothermia (typically T < 30C), but they are not pathognomic. Causes of non-hypothermic Osborn waves include:

• Hypercalcaemia [Otero et al]

• Acute myocardial ischaemia [Maruyama et al]

• Takotsubo cardiomyopathy [Zorzi et al]

• Left ventricular hypertrophy due to hypertension [Patel et al]

• Normal variant and early repolarization

• Neurological insults such as intracranial hypertension, severe head injury and subarachnoid haemorrhage

• Severe myocarditis

• Brugada syndrome [Bjerregaard et al]

• Le syndrome d’Haïssaguerre (idiopathic VF)

No definitive physiological cause for the deflection has been described, despite numerous postulates.

Compared to other hypothermia-induced ECG abnormalities (e.g. sinus bradycardia; supraventricular arrhythmias, QT prolongation and AV block), the Osborn wave is thought to be the most specific.

Provider Contact List

The Provider Contact List has been updated and can be found in the adminitrative section of the website (see Administrative tab above).

Instructions for initial setup of NCDAVE (North Carolina Vital Records - used to fill out Death Certificates) has also been added to the Administrative Section of the website.