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FAST feasible in a moving ambulance (manikin)
Emergency Life-Saving Technician-Performed Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma in Moving Ambulances: A Pilot Innovation Report
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine · 2026 · Added 6 November 2026
Twenty Japanese Emergency Life-Saving Technicians performed FAST on a manikin in a moving ambulance with near-identical checklist scores stationary, at 15 km/h and 30 km/h, with transmitted image quality adequate for remote physician review.
- Study type
- Simulation
- Design
- Prospective observational simulation pilot with non-inferiority analysis
- Participants
- 20 Emergency Life-Saving Technicians, three speed conditions
- Main finding
- Mean Task-Specific Checklist scores 23.4 stationary, 23.4 at 15 km/h and 23.7 at 30 km/h (of 24); non-inferiority met at both speeds, and specialist physicians could review transmitted images.
- Caveat
- Manikin pilot in a controlled setting — no patients, and Japanese ELSTs can't yet perform ultrasound clinically.
- Bottom line
- Context only
Why it matters in Australia (Medium relevance). Prehospital ultrasound is carried by a handful of Australian services and most don't, and Japan's physician-supervised technician model adds a layer we don't have.
Learning goal
Understand how prehospital ultrasound skill requirements and image quality vary when scanning during transport.
More
- Topic: Trauma
- Daily scan: 6 November 2026
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