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Emergency clinician performed ultrasound: Availability, uses and credentialing in Australian emergency departments
Author(s) -
Nagaraj Guruprasad,
Chu Matthew,
Dinh Michael
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
emergency medicine australasia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.602
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1742-6723
pISSN - 1742-6731
DOI - 10.1111/j.1742-6723.2010.01306.x
Subject(s) - credentialing , medicine , referral , emergency department , interventional radiology , emergency medicine , emergency ultrasound , accreditation , family medicine , surgery , nursing , medical education
Objective: To determine the current availability, uses and credentialing processes of emergency clinician performed ultrasound (EDUS) in Australian ED. Methods: Cross‐sectional survey of Australian ED that are accredited for advanced training. Results: Ninety‐four per cent of respondents (67/71, 95% confidence interval [CI] 86–98%) reported availability of EDUS. Availability was similar in both major referral and non‐major referral ED. The most common uses for EDUS were focused abdominal sonography for trauma in 93% (62/67, 95% CI 83–97%), vascular access procedures in 90% (60/67, 95% CI 80–95%) and abdominal aortic aneurysm assessment in 88% of respondents (59/67, 95% CI 78–94%). Of the 67 departments with EDUS availability, 60% (40/67, 95% CI 48–71%) had a credentialing process. Of the major referral group 80% (20/25, 95% CI 61–91%) had a credentialing process compared with 52% (20/42, 95% CI 33–62%) in the non‐major referral group. Conclusion: Emergency department ultrasound is widely available in Australia. Only 60% of surveyed ED had a credentialing process in place for EDUS. This may be of concern given the current Australasian College for Emergency Medicine policy regarding EDUS.