Ultrasound can be used in Emergency Medicine Jobs for making a diagnosis quickly.
Radiation from CT scans is leaning from just a concern toward being a real problem. Ultrasound definitely seems like it would be a good substitute to help ease this future void. Even though Ultrasound doesn’t give us as much information, it is lower risk and inexpensive compared to CT. Ultrasound is the stethoscope of the future, right? As technology improves getting good high quality images at the bedside will become easier and easier. Eventually, you will just connect a probe to your smartphone.
Ultrasound is being used more frequently in the emergency department now for: placing central lines, paracentesis, thoracentesis, diagnosing retinal detachment, FAST, cardiac, renal, pregnancy, DVT, and more. Important findings can be used to better guide therapy on the fly and in a pinch, which makes this a great tool for emergency medicine jobs.
Most residency programs in emergency medicine stress using ultrasound. However, there are still many physicians that would rather order one, then do it themselves. Even so, Ultrasound is still used for FAST exams and additional purposes. Including views looking for pneumothorax during trauma resuscitations. It can also be used emergently in severely ill hypotensive patients to narrow down and make the diagnosis quickly.
Etiologies of hypotension in severely ill patients:
Pericardial Tamponade – easily evaluate blood in the pericardium using US. Click here to see a video showing findings on ultrasound of pericardial tamponade.
Massive MI (myocardial infarction) or global hypokinesis – Click here to see US video
Massive PE (pulmonary embolus) – dilated right ventricle, right heart strain – Click here to see US video
Nice video of basics of ED management using US in key circumstances. Also, make sure to take a look at Part 2 – Click here to see US video
There are also multiple news apps for smartphones and iPads including, 1 minute ultrasound that features short education videos using ultrasound.
What did we do before smartphones??
Don’t just take it from me: Emergency Medicine Jobs and Ultrasound future is Black & White
Interesting articles: Ultrasound in Emergency Medicine
Top Ultrasound Apps - EP Monthly
Other good apps for Ultrasound include:
SonoAccess – free ultrasound app by Sonosite, specialty specific Ultrasound tutorials on your iPhone
If you know of any good US or EM apps let us know and we will post them.
These apps make it possible to learn some basic techniques to then apply clinically. Nothing really helps more then actually using the Ultrasound machine during that next shift. Ultrasound will continue to be utilized more in emergency departments.
