ULTRASOUND CHRONICLES: CHILD WITH POSITIVE FAST

By: Dr. Lori Stoltz, GEC Ultrasound Director

​The eFAST exam is the most widely adopted ultrasound examination for use in the emergency department. This exam looks at six locations on the body and can identify blood in the abdomen, blood around the heart, and a collapsed lung. It take two minutes to perform. In the United States it is routinely done immediately after the initial evaluation of a patient who has had trauma, such as a car accident or other injury.

The ECPs have learned this exam and with very little else available to them for imaging internal organs in trauma patients. It is one of their favorite scans to do. One reason why…it makes their job simple and it helps them do the right thing for each patient.

Take for example a young boy who was in the emergency department the last time I visited. He was 8 years old and had fallen from a motorcycle (boda). He was tachycardic, slightly hypotensive, and he had severe abdominal pain and a peritoneal abdomen. The ECPs did a FAST exam and found free-fluid in his abdomen. The ECPs consulted the physician, who was initially hesitant, but after seeing the ultrasound images, felt it was appropriate to take the boy to the operating room. In the OR, his spleen was removed and he was discharged from the hospital in a just a few days. Ultrasound for the win!

Ultrasound Machine Fundraiser for GEC – 100% Match
Thanks to a very generous gift from the Ellis family in honor of their parents, Dan and Barbara Ellis, we will be offering a 100% match on all ultrasound donations up to $10,000. Our goal in the next month is to raise $30,000 to fix one of our current ultrasound machines and to purchase two new ultrasound machines. Can you help save lives with a contribution towards these new ultrasound machines?