City of Redlands Firefighter Paramedics will be the first agency in the region to participate in a one-of-a-kind prehospital trial for a lifesaving handheld portable ultrasound device.
Investigators from Arrowhead Regional Medical Center proposed the Butterfly Ultrasound Prehospital Trial to emergency medical response agencies that provide initial prehospital care in San Bernardino County. The objective of the trial is to determine the necessity of the device to paramedics in the field and paramedics’ ability to effectively capture useful ultrasound images to identify critical conditions.
The handheld portable ultrasound devices may help paramedics to identify critical conditions such as buildup of fluid around the heart, air around or outside the lungs as a result of chest trauma or lung diseases that could lead to lung collapse or “cardiac standstill,” the complete absence of cardiac motion. Early identification of these conditions could help improve overall outcomes by indicating appropriate treatment, redirecting patients to the hospital best equipped to treat the condition, and notifying hospitals of traumatic conditions that would require surgical intervention. In addition, the device provides an additional tool for paramedics to utilize in cardiac arrest to continue to improve cardiac survival rates.
Firefighter Paramedics will participate in personalized training as well as hands-on ultrasound workshops coupled with pre/post-course exams to assess their knowledge and retention during the six-month trial period.
It is technological advances and an aggressive emergency medical program that allow the City of Redlands Firefighter Paramedics to be the first agency in the region to bring this Advanced Life Support Service into the pre-hospital setting.
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