Reducing The Opioid Epidemic with POC Ultrasound
Every day, 91 Americans die from opioid (prescription drugs or heroin) overdoses. This is the worst drug epidemic in the history of the United States.
How can emergency physicians help patients manage pain without accidentally getting them addicted to prescription opioids?
While federal and local governments have been slow to respond to this health crisis, individual hospitals and medical centres have launched their own initiatives to begin tackling the problem of opioid abuse. Recognising that prescription opiates are often the first step toward opioid addiction, St. Joseph’s Health Care…
User Stories: Point-of-Care Ultrasound Aids Elephant Conservation in Vietnam
Vietnam’s wild elephant population has dropped from over 2,000 animals to less than 100 in 20 years, making the country’s 60 or so captive elephants vital to preserving the genetic lines of this critically endangered species.Dr. Willem Schaftenaar, Veterinary Advisor to the European Studbook of Elephants, has been assisting the Đăk Lăk Elephant Conservation Centre (ECC) in identifying female elephants suitable for breeding. With the help the Animals Asia Foundation and a Sonosite Edge, Dr. Schaftenaar and the ECC are working with owners to establish a…
Beyond the Block: Why Would an Anaesthesiologist Use Ultrasound?
Increasingly, anaesthesiologists have been using ultrasound guidance to help visualise soft tissue anatomy and nerve location while performing regional nerve blocks. Correct placement of local anaesthetics lead to long lasting pain management and enhanced recovery times.
But beyond the block, how does ultrasound help anaesthesiologists do their jobs?
The answer has a lot to do with the changing practise of medicine.
In the United States, anaesthesiologists are increasingly expected to perform a wider role in care of patients—that is, care before, during, and after surgery—a specialty known…
Beyond the Block: Why Would an Anaesthesiologist Use Ultrasound?
Increasingly, anaesthesiologists have been using ultrasound guidance to help visualise soft tissue anatomy and nerve location while performing regional nerve blocks. Correct placement of local anaesthetics lead to long lasting pain management and enhanced recovery times.
But beyond the block, how does ultrasound help anaesthesiologists do their jobs?
The answer has a lot to do with the changing practise of medicine.
In the United States, anaesthesiologists are increasingly expected to perform a wider role in care of patients—that is, care before, during, and after surgery—a specialty known…
Integrating Ultrasound Services Into Your Practise - Five Reasons December 2016 Could Be The Right Time
Becker's Hospital Review
Jill Rathbun, Managing Partner at Galileo Consulting Group, Arlington, VA
Since the election there have been many articles written discussing the future of the Affordable Care Act under a President-Elect Trump Administration and a Republican Congress. It is important that physicians and office administrators understand the real impact by reading this article.
Beckers Integrating Ultrasound 1216.pdf
Clinical Chest Professionals, Here's Our Guide to CHEST2016
Has it really been a year already? We’re back in LA this week for another edition of CHEST, the premier clinical event for chest medicine in the U.S. We love CHEST because the show connects a global community around not just networking and new technology, but brings together new research, instruction and interactive simulations too. If you’re a veteran of CHEST you probably know your way around the show. If you haven’t been before or need a refresher, here’s our quick “Guide to CHEST2016.”
1. Push Your Medical Education
It can be hard to complete continuing medical education credentials…
User Stories: Spreading Point-of-Care Ultrasound Hospital-Wide
What departments are the heaviest users of point-of-care ultrasound in an American-based hospital?The answer varies from hospital to hospital, but we usually see Emergency Medicine, Cardiology, Critical Care and Anaesthesiology rounding out the heavyweight users of bedside ultrasound.But what happens when a hospital wants to bring point-of-care ultrasound to different departments with different clinical applications? And what happens when a hospital wants point-of-care ultrasound in every department? With every doctor?If you’re in Germany, that hospital would be the Evangelisches Krankenhaus…
Global Health: Fujifilm Sonosite Machines Assist Puerto Rican Recovery
Dr. Alfredo Tirado is from Florida Hospital in Orlando, and has been leading an emergency response mission in Puerto Rico to help with Hurricane Maria relief.
FUJIFILM Sonosite has contributed four M-Turbos to the medical recovery efforts, and Dr. Tirado sent us an update on his work with medical patients on the island. He is being escorted by helicopter to the most at-need regions and in the image below he is using the Sonosite iViz to perform a FAST scan on a patient.
Sonosite-blog-post-puerto-rico.png
"Thank you for helping us give…
The Changing Face of Anaesthesia
With constant pressure on healthcare providers to improve the quality and efficiency of care while reducing costs, standardisation of patient management is a logical step towards more streamlined services. Anaesthesia is one area that is beginning to embrace this approach, combining regional nerve blocks with ultrasound guidance to improve both the quality and effectiveness of patient care while minimizing hospital stays.Dr. Martin Zoremba (PhD), Chief Registrar in the anaesthesia Department at Kreisklinikum Siegen, describes the transformation of his department and the benefits that a…
POCUS Profile: Dr. Torsten Müller
Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is rapidly becoming a crucial tool for emergency medicine in Germany, and it's increasingly common for ambulances and emergency doctor vehicles to be equipped with POCUS systems. Dr. Torsten Müller is the medical head of rescue services for Kassel, Germany, overseeing pre-hospital care functions for a system that currently runs 65 ambulances and a helicopter, as well as six emergency doctors’ cars that have recently been equipped with FUJIFILM Sonosite iViz systems. Dr. Müller also works part-time as an anaesthetist at Klinikum Kassel, one…
Portable Ultrasound Machine for International Medical Missions
Dr. Russell Engevik is an emergency room physician from California who volunteers with Lighthouse Medical Missions.He recently sent a video showing us how he utilises a borrowed Sonosite iViz while working with patients in the hospital in the small fishing village of Tanji, The Gambia.The Gambia is a resource-poor nation in West Africa with an economy that relies primarily upon tourism. Less than 6% of the land is arable, and the main crop grown in the country is peanuts.The Gambia is nearly entirely surrounded by the country of Senegal, except for the section that is bordered by the Atlantic…
Case Study: Point-of-Care Ultrasound in Resuscitation Situations
How valuable is the use of point-of-care ultrasound in resuscitation situations? Consider the following case study, provided by Dr. Mark Mensour, ER physician, Assistant Professor at the Northern Ontario (Canada) School of Medicine and course developer for Emergency healthcare practitioners.
A 59-year old male, recently admitted for fever and pneumonia, is intubated and ventilated. While in the CT scanner to determine whether he has acute respiratory distress syndrome, the patient suffers a cardiac arrest with pulseless electrical activity (PEA). CPR was initiated, and the endotracheal tube,…
Global Health: Ultrasound Expands Access and Improves Maternal Care
Every day, 800 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. 99% live in rural areas. Many of them could be prevented with proper maternal care including ultrasound imaging during their pregnancy and delivering in a medical clinic. Of those deaths, 40% are due to injuries or conditions related to placenta complications - and the only way to detect abnormal placenta challenges is through an ultrasound exam.A few years ago, Sonosite partnered with Qualcomm Wireless Reach, Trice Imaging Inc., and Sony to create the Mobile Ultrasound Patrol project, a trial…
POC Ultrasound Testing Speeds Diagnosis, Safety at the Bedside
Physicians today face a multitude of ever evolving challenges, and one thing we’ve seen is an increase in the demand for educational sessions covering the latest in ultrasound. Dr. Keith Boniface from the George Washington University School of Medicine talked to Healio.com at the American College of Physicians Internal Medicine Meeting on why ultrasound education and learning is so critical. One of the things that has led to an increased demand for this type of course this year is that we are pressured as clinicians to make diagnoses more rapidly and less invasively. A lot of…
Point-of-Care Ultrasound Shows Promise for Osgood-Schlatter Diagnosis
Osgood-Schlatter disease is a developmental disorder that causes musculoskeletal problems and is rare in the normal population. However, the condition is more common in teenagers who play sports, affecting an estimated 3-5% percent of this population; it causes painful inflammation below the knee in adolescents and can lead to permanent soft tissue damage. The condition is often diagnosed by MRI, which is both costly and impractical for screening purposes.Dr. Ralf Doyscher, from the Department of Sports Medicine at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, recently participated in a study of…
User Stories: Madrid's Emergency Services and Portable Ultrasound
Since point-of-care ultrasound systems were originally designed for dealing with emergencies in a battlefield setting, it's not surprising that ultrasound now plays a pivotal role in emergency vehicles around the world. Dr Ramón de Elías Hernandez, head of on-call doctors at SAMUR, Madrid’s municipal emergency service, describes the advantages that point-of-care ultrasound brings to his everyday life.
"I've been an ambulance doctor for the Servicio de Asistencia Municipal de Urgencia y Rescate (SAMUR) in Madrid for 20 years, 10 of those as head of on-call doctors. My day job is to…
Ultrasound-Guided Vascular Access Programme Saves St. Joseph's $3.5 Million
Becker's Infection Control & Clinical Quality
Matthew Ostroff, ARNP
The American College of Emergency Physicians issued a policy statement in 2016 advocating a new safety standard for vascular access through the use of ultrasound guidance. St. Joseph's Healthcare System, in Paterson, N.J., launched a programme that has yielded significant safety and quality of care improvements for all patients requiring vascular access. This article describes how St. Joseph's cut healthcare costs and improved patient outcomes by achieving the "one-stick standard".
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Anesthesia Ultrasound for Perioperative Care - Beyond the Block
The role of the anesthesiologist is evolving to include perioperative care
With hospitals seeking innovative ways to streamline patient care and improve outcomes, anesthesiologists are increasingly expected to provide patient care beyond general anesthesia and nerve blocks. But beyond the block, how does perioperative ultrasound help anesthesiologists do their jobs?
The answer has a lot to do with the changing practice of medicine.
In the United States, anesthesiologists are increasingly expected to perform a wider role in care of patients—that is, care before, during, and after surgery—a…
Watch the Value of Endobronchial Ultrasound Webinar
Are you a pulmonologist, interventional pulmonologist, or thoracic surgeon? Check out our webinar “Lung Cancer: The State of the Disease,” from the Endoscopy Division of FUJIFILM.
More people die every year from lung cancer than from colon, breast, and prostate cancer combined. In August 2016, we aired “Lung Cancer: The State of the Disease.” It’s a timely and informative webinar led by David Feller-Kopman, MD, Director of Bronchoscopy & Interventional Pulmonology at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and a world-renowned expert in his field.
You’re invited to view this 40-minute webinar that…
Foetal Ultrasound of Pregnant SeaWorld Manatee
When you think of manatee migration, you don’t normally picture aircraft.But that is how Washburn the pregnant manatee was transported from Massachusetts, where she was rescued (just off the coast) to Sea World in Orlando, Florida, where she spent 2 weeks recuperating.After recovering from cold-related stress, Washburn was found fit to be released back into the waters off the coast of Florida.See some clips from Washburn’s foetal ultrasound (with a Sonosite Edge II) below!Watch SeaWorld’s rehabilitation of Washburn and her release