I was wondering how many of you have experience using pre-hospital ultrasound. I’ve heard for a long time that it’s the “next big thing”, and I can see it for rural systems or maybe even community paramedicine, but I’ve not seen much in the way of it actually getting adopted. Do you find it to be a meaningfully useful addition to your skillset and protocols? If you were around when it was introduced, how do you feel about the introduction? What were some lessons learned by you or the system along the way?
Don’t have it in my program, yet. I do ground critical care so maybe not the situation you’re looking at but a lot of flight programs are adopting it. It’s great and it should be the next big thing.
Our protocols are starting with using it for placing A-lines, but our doc gives us a lot of freedom to practice. That said I’ve seen it used to confirm ET tubes, identify pneumothorax, guide needles for when performing pericardiocentesis, and assess volume status to guide fluid resuscitation. This is in addition to identifying internal bleeding/ruptured aortas and starting IVs.
Now this isn’t necessarily for your average medic, but if it is a progressive or rural system as long as no one extends their scene time to use it, it could be very useful. But it will be most beneficial in a critical care settings.