Dr Andrew Smith1
1SAAS MedSTAR, Adelaide, Australia, 2Lyell McEwin Hospital Emergency Department, Elizabeth Vale, Australia
Abstract:
Point of care ultrasound (POCUS) has become an increasingly used tool within critical care. POCUS use within a contemporary South Australian pre-hospital and retrieval service was reviewed over a 1-year timeframe. POCUS was used in 32.6% of the 331 pre-hospital cases attended, and in 10.4% of the 1119 inter-hospital retrievals. Ultrasound was used more frequently when aviation assets were utilised vs road, and in longer duration missions. Pre-hospital ultrasound use was predominantly eFAST, focused cardiac or lung; whilst inter-hospital missions were associated with procedural guidance, lung and focused cardiac. Two thirds of pre-hospital missions obtained adequate image sets and one third showed an abnormality, inter-hospital images were adequate in 82% of cases with abnormality detected in 46% of cases. The use of ultrasound for pre-hospital missions was associated with 6 minutes extra scene time (p=0.02), and an extra 21 minutes for inter-hospital missions (p<0.001). These data suggest that ultrasound is often being employed when further from base with more limited resources. The descriptive analysis provides an overview of current practice and can be used to guide training, and resource allocation.
Biographies:
Andrew started as an aeronautical engineer with a short attention span who changed to medicine, training in Emergency Medicine between the UK and Australia. He never lost his love of aviation and toys and now has a strong interest in point of care ultrasound and Pre-Hospital and Retrieval Medicine.