spenac Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 I agree that the potential benefits would be more for a rural area and a long transport time. Problem is, I would hate to be the one who has to "decide" whether or not to transport to a Level 1 based on the findings of an US exam. I would think that like any skill, you would need to be pretty darn proficient in not only your technique to obtain a quality study, but your ability to interpret the results. Like was mentioned, that would mean using the device on multiple patients to keep you sharp. As you mentioned, by the time you could see fluid/air/blood on an US, wouldn't the person already be exhibiting signs of an internal injury and warrant a trip to a trauma center or you would already suspect such a problem based on MOI? I'm also am certainly no expert on US- I could barely make out pictures of my unborn kids much less an internal bleed. LOL No you can see blood before you actually see the big changes of compensated and non compensated shock. Also if you know anatomy you examine key areas with the FAST method. And no Vent if we suspect they need higher level they get higher level. But it is surprising how often a patient with no real s/s's (and w/o US no reason to consider higher level) turns out to have a bleed that is small initially but will get bigger soon. The US helps find those leaks before they become gushers so the bandaid hospital is no the one chosen. Also sometimes you can give the hospital heads up so they can have OR ready to go. I am not advocating giving this or any other tool or skill to the uneducated. But with proper education this can be an important tool in frontier medicine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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