Creation of a Flight Nurse Critical Care Ultrasound Program

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Critical Care
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Prehospital care often faces challenges in definitive patient assessment.
• The role of nonphysician providers in advanced diagnostics is expanding.
• Ultrasound (US) offers a portable solution for rapid patient evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To detail the establishment of a flight nurse (FN) ultrasound (US) program.
• To assess the utility of critical care US by nonphysician providers in prehospital settings.
• To determine if prehospital US clarifies patient assessment.

Main Methods:

• Twenty FNs underwent comprehensive didactic and hands-on US training.
• Competency was validated through an objective-structured clinical examination.
• Portable US devices were utilized during transports, with FNs reporting impact on assessment.

Main Results:

• US was performed in 102 (12.3%) patient transports, primarily ICU-to-ICU transfers.
• A significant majority of FNs (67.4%) agreed US clarified patient symptom etiology.
• FNs were more inclined to use US when initial assessment confidence was lower.

Conclusions:

• The flight nurse ultrasound program was successfully created and implemented.
• Critical care ultrasound performed by FNs in prehospital settings aids in clarifying patient assessments.
• This program demonstrates the value of advanced imaging by nonphysician providers in critical care transport.