VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Virginia Beach Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is taking a significant step in improving emergency care with the use of portable ultrasound machines.
This technology is expected to cut down response times in critical situations, potentially saving lives in the community.
While ultrasounds are not a new medical tool, their use in the field by first responders is for Virginia Beach.
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If someone is involved in a serious car accident in Virginia Beach they may appear uninjured from the outside, but there could be internal injuries that are not immediately apparent.
Thanks to the new ultrasound technology, Virginia Beach EMS can conduct checks in the field.
"We will use the ultrasound to look at their abdomen to see if there is any blood in their abdomen," said Stewart Martin, medical director of Virginia Beach EMS. "If there is, then we can start a transfusion of blood."
A few months ago, the city purchased three ultrasound machines, each roughly the size of an iPad and a pencil case, for trained paramedics.
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The goal is to prepare hospitals for incoming patients by assessing conditions on-site, which can save critical time.
"This does save time because if we can identify, for instance, that a trauma patient has internal bleeding, that can expedite their care through the emergency department and into surgery if they need it immediately or into a CT scanner," Martin explained.
The ultrasound device can also help paramedics evaluate the effectiveness of treatments they are administering.
"For a patient with cardiac arrest that we may be treating, we can see if the treatment is effective,” Martin said. “If it isn’t, then maybe we need to change what we are doing.”
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Currently, there are only three machines, each assigned to a supervisor and deployed to the most critical calls.
The future goal is to acquire additional devices and train more personnel on their usage.
"The more familiar they are with it and the more they use it, the more benefits it will have for our patients," Martin added.
