“Muffled Voice” Dr. Danielle Parker, PGY2 EM
Dr. Parker was rotating on her Trauma block at the time and was coming down to the ED to admit a patient. This particular patient had been assaulted, presented somewhat altered and had an irregular laceration on her palatine tonsil. She was diagnosed with an ICH and a mass on her palatine tonsil. This patient had been maintaining her airway throughout her ED stay and phonating without difficulty. Dr. Parker assessed the patient and noticed that her voice was muffled. She quickly grabbed the ED attending and senior resident who realized that the patient's palatine tonsil mass was expanding, called an airway alert and the patientt was subsequently intubated by anesthesia. On this particular day we were boarding and several new critical patients had come into the ED. If it wasn’t for Dr. Parker’s thorough physical exam and clinical judgement, this patient would have had a terrible outcome. Great save Dr. Parker!
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