A lot of hashtags come and go on Twitter, but some have true staying power. The #FOAMed hashtag, of course, is the most recognized hashtag in the emergency medicine Twitterverse and has been going strong since 2012. Typically, #FOAMed amasses between 1,000 and 1,500 tweets on any given day, and during conferences, the number skyrockets. If you were to only search Twitter for the #FOAMed hashtag, you’d still be drinking from a fire hose.

While the #FOAMed hashtag was supposed to help narrow down the Twitter noise into only “the good stuff” for people like emergency physicians, its popularity and ubiquity has made it a victim of its own success. As a result, subniche hashtags have sprouted up, and many of them feature consistently reliable, high-quality tweets about various areas of interest.

#PostItPearls

A relatively new hashtag that seems to have staying power is #PostItPearls. The idea is that a Post-it note can handle the same amount of information as a good lecture slide.

The best part is that you can make a high-yield Post-it and share it with the resident you are working with. You can then stick it onto your desk or the side of your computer screen so that if Resident A happens to be sewing up a laceration when you are teaching Resident B, Resident A can get in on some of the action later if they happen to see it. Even better, you can snap a photo of it on your phone and tweet it out, so thousands of learners can see it online. Noted emergency medicine educators such as Rob Cooney, MD, MEd (@EMEducation), and Michelle Lin, MD (@M_Lin), have been active contributors to the #PostItPearls movement. Dr. Cooney proves that the San Francisco syncope rule can fit on one Post-it (and so does the Ottawa ankle rule). Dr. Lin’s Post-it on the Rule of 150 for acetaminophen toxicity is permanently saved in the Post-it Pearls pictures folder on my phone. (The toxic dose of acetaminophen is 150 mg/kg, the four-hour toxic level is 150 µg/mL, and the first dose of the N-acetylcysteine antidote is 150mg/kg.) Of course, Amal Mattu, MD, FACEP (@AmalMattu), is old-fashioned. He likes to tweet photos of the whiteboard teaching pearls from his shifts. However, as Anand Swaminathan MD, MPH (@EMSwami), mentioned in his post on the Core EM blog about #PostItPearls, who the heck has a whiteboard in the emergency department anymore? So it’s back to good old paper and pen (or Sharpie, for maximal clarity).

#FOAMped

For those of us who see some but not enough children in our emergency departments: to feel up-to-date on the latest and greatest in pediatrics, the #FOAMped (and #FOAMpeds) hashtag can be helpful.

Pediatric emergency physician Sean Fox, MD, FACEP, FAAP (@PedEmMorsels), recently tweeted a link to his blog, PedEmMorsels.com, highlighting the management of the child with congenital adrenal hyperplasia presenting in shock. In short, treat the electrolyte imbalances, and give a bolus of IV hydrocortisone initially at 1–2 mg/kg. This blog is a great pediatric resource, covering topics from trampoline injuries to short videos demonstrating important pediatric procedures. Included is one on transtracheal jet ventilation, which, while simple in theory, is a procedure that I would be scared to perform.

From #FOAMcc (critical care) to #FOAMtox (toxicology), you can use the search tool to find outstanding medical information in just about any niche that strikes your fancy.

Recently, a flurry of #FOAMped tweets came out of a new conference held in Brisbane, Australia (#DFTB17). They were put out by the pediatric emergency medicine blogger team at DontForgetTheBubbles.com. The blog’s cofounders, Tessa Davis, MSc, MBChB (@TessaRDavis), Andy Tagg, MBBS (@AndrewJTagg), Henry Goldstein, MBBS (@HenryGoldstein), and Ben Lawton, MBBS, FRACP (@PaedsEM), were at the helm of this successful new conference focused on pediatric emergencies and the art of pediatric medical practice. I am pleased to report that a third FOAM pediatrics hashtag featuring the more British/Australian spelling of the word (#FOAMpaeds) indeed exists, but it has not yet taken off, so we can chalk one up for the Americans.

#FOAMus

Perhaps, the most active sub-FOAM hashtag of them all is the one used by point-of-care ultrasound experts and enthusiasts: #FOAMus. This hashtag has become particularly valuable since Twitter started allowing short videos to be embedded directly into tweets. Short looping videos of ultrasound can now be shared.

Sam Ghali, MD (@EM_Resus), is a master at creating them. In one recent video, he showed a stunningly clear example of echocardiographic findings of cardiac tamponade. Right ventricular and atrial collapse, an underfilled left ventricle, a heart “swinging” around from side to side, and, of course, a massive pericardial effusion are all pristinely labeled. That’s why it has been retweeted more than 430 times and viewed by tens of thousands of grateful FOAM-heads like me.

And More!

There are many other hashtags like these. From #FOAMcc (critical care) to #FOAMtox (toxicology), you can use the search tool to find outstanding medical information in just about any niche that strikes your fancy.

So far, I am sad to report that my valiant attempt to get the new hashtag #TwitterIsForMedicalEducationAndResearchDissemination trending just hasn’t materialized. I can’t figure out why!