Educational standards for training paramedics in ultrasound: a scoping review

Paramedic-performed out-of-hospital ultrasound is a novel skill that has gained popularity in some services in recent years. In this setting point-of care ultrasound (POCUS) can provide additional information that can assist with management and guide transport to the most appropriate facility. We so...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	BMC emergency medicine Vol. 17; no. 1; p. 18
Main Authors:	Meadley, Ben, Olaussen, Alexander, Delorenzo, Ashleigh, Roder, Nick, Martin, Caroline, St Clair, Toby, Burns, Andrew, Stam, Emma, Williams, Brett
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	England BioMed Central Ltd 17-06-2017 BioMed Central BMC
Subjects:	Ambulance services Colleges & universities Curricula Education Educational standards Emergency medical care Emergency Medical Technicians - education Emergency services Emergency vehicles Humans Inservice Training - standards Libraries Lists Methods Nurses Out-of-hospital Paramedic Paramedics Patients Point-of-Care Testing Scientific papers Search engines Simulation Study and teaching Teaching Training Trauma Ultrasonography Ultrasound Ultrasound imaging Wounds and Injuries - diagnostic imaging Australia Training Education Ultrasound Out-of-hospital Paramedic
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Summary:	Paramedic-performed out-of-hospital ultrasound is a novel skill that has gained popularity in some services in recent years. In this setting point-of care ultrasound (POCUS) can provide additional information that can assist with management and guide transport to the most appropriate facility. We sought to explore the different educational approaches used for training paramedics in ultrasound in the out-of-hospital setting. Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, EBM Reviews, The Cochrane Library, CINAHL plus, The Monash University Research Repository and the British Thesis Library were searched from the 1 of January 1990 to the 6 of April 2016. Google Scholar was searched and reference lists of relevant papers were examined to identify additional studies. Articles were included if they reported on out-of-hospital and POCUS educational approaches for paramedics. A total of 2002 unique articles were identified of which 18 articles met the inclusion criteria. Most articles reported combined cohorts of emergency providers with varying years of experience though most operators were POCUS naïve. The most common clinical assessment for which paramedic POCUS curricula was described was the focused assessment sonography for trauma (FAST) examination. Education programs varied from two-minutes to two-days with all studies including both didactic and practical training. Education programs for POCUS for paramedics vary considerably, and do not appear to align with qualification level or clinical experience. Further research investigating education and subsequent clinical application of POCUS by paramedics is required, as well as prospective, outcome based studies in order to measure the clinical utility of out-of-hospital POCUS.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-3 content type line 23 ObjectType-Review-1
ISSN:	1471-227X 1471-227X
DOI:	10.1186/s12873-017-0131-8