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at www.gitfreed.a.i. Hello, med students. My name is Zach Olson. Thank you for downloading

this episode of the EM Clerkship Podcast. We are doing another huge core content episode this week.

The Approach to Shortness of Breath. And I really want to preface this episode by saying that we're keeping it really simple today.

I'm not going to be talking about ABCs or immediate resuscitation because I actually did that a few

months ago. I also want a time to cover the specific treatments for each cause because, as you'll see,

the differential is pretty much ginormous. Today we're focusing on a simple, general approach so that

you can keep your thoughts together when you get these cases.

And the main takeaway I want you to understand is that in order to address this chief complaint appropriately,

you need to do an organized anatomical approach.

Your differential, your exam, your adjunct testing, all follows an organized anatomic approach.

This is so important to understand. There are lots of things that cause respiratory distress,

and it's really, really easy to miss stuff if you don't have a system. So let's get started. I'm going to show you how to do this.

Step one is to consider your differential diagnosis using an organized anatomical approach.

Upper airway, lower airway, LVLI, blood, blood vessels, heart.

I mean, you can close your eyes and imagine this.

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