Implementing ultrasound in emergency medical services: assessing physician proficiency and training requirements

BackgroundBedside ultrasound plays an important role in diagnostics and monitoring, especially in emergency medicine. Modern technology makes ultrasound available in a mobile and portable form, so it can be used even in prehospital emergency care with several interventional and diagnostic applications. This also raises the question of what kind of education and training is necessary for EMS (emergency medical services) physicians to be able to use Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) in the prehospital setting.AimsThis observational study investigates the use of prehospital POCUS in a rural EMS area. It focuses the question of what level of competence is needed for EMS physicians to use POCUS adequately in the prehospital emergency setting for correct application and interpretation of the findings.MethodThis was a quality assurance measure designed as a prospective cohort study. We investigated POCUS examinations performed by EMS physicians in the EMS Service Area of Nuremberg City, Germany between June 2021 and July 2022. Patients transported to three specific hospitals in Nuremberg city after care were followed up and the prehospital findings were compared with the in-hospital radiological results. The number of correct findings was correlated with the level of competence in POCUS examinations of the performing EMS physicians. Various classifications of competence were used to assess the influence of training and education on the safe application of prehospital POCUS.ResultsTwo hundred fifty-eight prehospital POCUS examinations were documented, with 108 followed up, including 268 sonographic findings. There was a wide range of indications for POCUS use. In 79.5% of cases the prehospital findings correspond with those in-hospital. By correlating the correct findings with the participants level of competence, there was no significant difference between POCUS-experienced and -inexperienced EMS physicians, even when divided into different categories.ConclusionPOCUS can be used in prehospital emergency care for a wide range of indications safely, with a high number of correct diagnoses and findings. Our results suggest that emergency POCUS is easy to learn and EMS physicians do not need intensive training to perform POCUS adequately in the prehospital setting.Take home messagesMobile ultrasound appears to be useful in the prehospital settingIt can be used by EMS physicians even without extensive prior experience and expertisePOCUS is able to find important findings for prehospital patient's care with a high level of certainty