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Prehospital ultrasound as a decision tool
Prehospital point-of-care ultrasound as a decision-support tool: A structured narrative review
The Ultrasound Journal · 2026-10-21 · Added 24 October 2026
Structured narrative review of 38 articles on prehospital POCUS across cardiac arrest, shock, dyspnoea, trauma, paediatric and obstetric uses — it can identify reversible causes in arrest, characterise shock and support trauma triage and destination decisions, but limited sensitivity means it can't rule anything out.
- Study type
- Other
- Design
- Structured narrative review (38 articles, 9 systematic reviews)
- Participants
- 38 articles reviewed
- Main finding
- POCUS may identify cardiac activity and reversible causes in arrest, characterise shock mechanisms and improve diagnostic confidence in cardiogenic pulmonary oedema; E-FAST has high specificity but limited sensitivity so it cannot be used as a rule-out test
- Caveat
- Single reviewer, no formal risk-of-bias assessment, certainty grading or meta-analysis
- Bottom line
- Context only
Why it matters in Australia (Medium relevance). A handful of Australian services carry prehospital ultrasound and most don't, so this shapes the debate about adoption more than current practice.
Learning goal
Weigh how prehospital point-of-care ultrasound findings should influence my treatment and transport decisions.
More
- Topic: Other
- Daily scan: 24 October 2026
- Podcast: Paramedic Papers Daily, 24 October 2026
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