meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
EM Clerkship

BRUE (Pediatrics)

EM Clerkship

Zack Olson, MD ; Mike Estephan, MD ; Maddie Watts, MD

Health & Fitness, Science, Education, Medicine, Life Sciences

4.9816 Ratings

🗓️ 20 June 2016

⏱️ 10 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary


3 Categories: High Risk BRUE. Low Risk BRUE. Not a BRUE.



Step 1: Is This a BRUE?



* Brief* <60 seconds* Resolved* Exam and vitals back to baseline in the ED* Unexplained* No symptoms other than event itself* Event* Concerning change in any of the following…* Tone* Color* Breathing* Mental status



Step 2: Is This Low Risk BRUE?



* Five low risk criteria* Age >2 months* Born at >32 weeks gestational age* First and only episode* No CPR by medical providers* No “Red Flags”



Step 3: Do They Have Red Flags?



* For abuse* History of SIDS/BRUE in sibling* Mental illness at home* Drug use at home* For dysrhythmia* Family history of sudden unexplained death* For infection* Fevers* Unimmunized* Sick contacts* Rash



Step 4: Examine for Non-Accidental Trauma



* Bulging fontanelle* Petechia* Torn frenulum* Blood



Step 5: Place Patient Into One of Three Categories



* NOT a BRUE* Treat as you normally would* HIGH risk BRUE* Admit* LOW risk BRUE* Discharge without testing* May consider EKG and pertussis



Additional Reading



* Brief Resolved Unexplained Events (AAP)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hello, med students. My name is Zach Olson. Thank you so much for downloading this episode of the EM

0:07.4

Clerkship Podcast. First off, I just want to apologize for last week. I was literally opening up my

0:15.9

laptop to publish an already recorded podcast on Sunday. And my computer died.

0:21.6

It crashed.

0:22.9

And it's been over at the Apple store all week getting fixed up,

0:25.8

so I'm really sorry about that.

0:27.5

It just wasn't meant to be last week.

0:29.9

But we're going to get started again.

0:31.9

We are going to be covering a super interesting pediatrics topic today.

0:37.4

Close your eyes and imagine.

0:40.1

You pick up the chart of a pediatric patient,

0:42.9

six months old, chief complaint, loss of consciousness.

0:47.6

The triage note states that the child stopped breathing,

0:51.3

turned blue, and went limp 45 minutes ago.

0:56.4

So you go over to examine the patient, and the kid actually looks pretty good, and his

1:00.9

vitals are good.

1:01.9

And the parents, though, they are freaked out.

1:04.7

And they say, listen, I know he looks good now, doctor, but I swear he was dead.

1:10.7

We had to do CPR. Pause. What do you do?

1:19.8

Today, I'm going to give you the approach to Brewee, B-R-U-E, brief, resolved, unexplained events. This is a huge topic in pediatric emergency

1:34.4

medicine, especially. It used to be called ALTI. And the reason you probably haven't heard

1:40.2

much about it is that there was literally nothing to teach. All of these kids got admitted

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Zack Olson, MD ; Mike Estephan, MD ; Maddie Watts, MD, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Zack Olson, MD ; Mike Estephan, MD ; Maddie Watts, MD and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.