Summary

Pre-hospital care (PHC) is organised differently across the globe and consists of: primary work or retrieval work. Doctors bring with them a set of advanced skills which may be used to benefit a small cohort of the sickest patients. One such skill is ultrasound (US). This chapter focuses primarily on the primary retrieval role. The role of US in PHC is two-fold: to promote earlier, more accurate diagnoses, so enhancing patient care; and to minimise the risks of procedures. The management of many medical emergencies and traumatic injuries is influenced by early care delivery. The major potential for harm from PHC US is that of increased on-scene time delaying transport to definitive care. PHC US has been shown to alter the disposition or management of trauma patients, and performs better than clinical assessment alone. US studies performed in the pre-hospital arena may be truncated once diagnostic information has been obtained.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.