The "Airmedical F.A.S.T." for trauma patients--the initial report of a novel application for sonography

While established as an initial screening tool for the evaluation of injured patients at the trauma center, sonographic evaluation of the patient in the prehospital setting remains untested. The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of this procedure during prehospital helicopter transport.

Two qualified flight surgeons performed all imaging studies. Confirmatory endpoints were documented for all images obtained in flight.

For this preliminary study, 100 patients are presented; 84 studies were analyzed; 16 were excluded due to patient weight (8), hemodynamic instability (6), or problems with machine calibration (2). Sensitivity was 81.3%; specificity was 100%. The positive predictive value was 100%; the negative predictive value was 95.7%. The accuracy was 96.4%.

Sonographic studies obtained during air-medical transport are of similar quality and consistency as those obtained in the emergency department. The ability to detect hemoperitoneum in the field may challenge traditional algorithms for prehospital care as a result.