Ultrasound in Trauma (eFAST) Course

Description

Extended Focused Abdominal Scanning for Trauma (eFAST) ultrasound was the flagship of bedside ultrasound. Nowadays sending the unstable trauma patient straight to theatre is not an everyday occurrence; and eFAST scanning remains one of the most useful point of care ultrasound (PoCUS) techniques, for reasons other than those proposed by its inventors. eFAST ultrasound can risk stratify the patient with an ectopic pregnancy, identify ascites, guide paracentesis, but most importantly – familiarises novices with the ‘windows’ of the abdomen. 

There is no prior experience is required for this eFAST ultrasound course. After a machine familiarisation session and sono-anatomy lesson, you will be taught how to acquire a set of scans that adequately rule out free fluid in the abdominal cavity, pleural effusion, pericardial effusion and pneumothorax. Through the day you will practice the skill on different patients. You will learn about false positives and false negatives. 

By the end of the day, you should be able to scan, label, save and interpret a set of scans that support your clinical decision. You are not expected to become an expert in a day. However, this one day-course is all about learning what you don’t know, what you need to know, and what you need to practice safely. And, when you return, we will build on your competency with the next layer of optimisation and interpretation, with eventual integration into multisystem protocols answering clinical questions.