Severe Community-Acquired Pneumonia: A 55-Year-Old Smoker
A branching clinical case simulation for a patient presenting with fever and productive cough for 3 days. Take a history, examine, investigate, diagnose and treat while the patient responds to every decision, then see the score by clinical domain with the reasoning for each mark.
Year 3easy20 min6 stages
- Patient
- 55 years, male
- Presenting complaint
- Fever and productive cough for 3 days
- Decision stages
- History, Examination, Investigations, Diagnosis, Treatment, Monitoring
The presentation
Mr John Smith, a 55-year-old smoker, presents to the emergency department with a 3-day history of fever and productive cough. He is unwell and has right basal consolidation on clinical examination. The nurse has recorded his initial observations: pulse 112 bpm, BP 88/58 mmHg, RR 30/min, SpO2 90% on air, and temperature 38.4°C. He is alert and oriented. You are the junior doctor asked to assess him. Work through the case step by step, making decisions on history, examination, investigations, diagnosis, and treatment.
What this case teaches
Score severity using CURB-65; give oxygen to target; choose empirical antibiotics by severity; recognise when the patient needs escalation.
How the case unfolds
- 1Focused HistoryHistory
- 2Focused ExaminationExamination
- 3Investigations and Initial ManagementInvestigations
- 4Severity Assessment and DiagnosisDiagnosis
- 5Initial Management: Oxygen and AntibioticsTreatment
- 6Escalation and MonitoringMonitoring
The decisions available at each stage, and what each one costs or earns, appear when you run the case.
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A free account opens the simulator: the patient's observations move with your decisions, and every choice is scored and explained.
Taught in
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Educational content for students and clinicians in training. It does not replace professional judgement, local protocols or current prescribing information.