Name
#100 - Developing an Operational Environment Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) Curriculum for Corpsmen and Military Medical Students
Date & Time
Tuesday, February 13, 2024, 12:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Description

Operational Ultrasound curriculum was developed by USUHS second-year medical students to improve military readiness through point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) training. Due to constraints on resources in austere environments, streamlined care through standardized training is necessary for the optimal care of military service members. POCUS is proven to be helpful for triage, making evacuation decisions, and monitoring patients. The Operational Ultrasound curriculum was developed to provide standardized ultrasound training to effectively train medics and corpsmen to perform an extended Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma (E-FAST) exam in a high-stress environment and prepare incoming first-year medical students with skills to enable them to teach E-FAST to ultrasound naïve and familiar service members. 18 participants, 6 Corpsmen and 12 medical students, attended three days of in-person lectures and hands-on training taught by the second-year medical students, with an additional day for evaluation. The lectures consisted of an introduction to the ultrasound machine, E-FAST, echocardiogram, DVT exam, ocular exam, and relevant anatomy. The participants were evaluated in written exams and practical formats for E-FAST only. For the written exam, they were given 15 multiple-choice questions testing their knowledge of knobology, relevant anatomy, and indications for POCUS. For the practical exam, the students were in a 3D simulation center which imitated an actual deployed-setting field hospital in a General Purpose (GP) medium tent with loud screaming and siren sound effects. In the high-stress environment, two students wore 3D glasses and performed two E-FAST exams on two different living “patients”' in under five minutes. Each of the corresponding pathologic ultrasound videos was shown to the students in real-time by the instructors after they successfully obtained each E-FAST view (pericardial, perihepatic, perisplenic, pelvic, and thoracic). The students were expected to identify exactly which part of the image was positive or negative before they moved on to the next view. As a result, from the course evaluation survey, the participants responded that their level of skill and knowledge at the start of the course was Poor (7 participants), Fair (8), Satisfactory (1), Very Good (1), and Excellent (1), but after the course, their skill and knowledge was Satisfactory (1), Very Good (12), and Excellent (5). The average written exam score of the corpsmen was 78%, and 92% for medical students. All students were able to perform E-FAST exams in under five minutes in an imitated operational environment after at least two attempts. In conclusion, this 15-hour Operational Ultrasound training was effective in training Navy Corpsmen and incoming first-year medical students to perform E-FAST in a high-pressure environment. The participants were also proficient enough to be in a teaching role after the class was over, as several of them took leadership roles in teaching E-FAST to other inexperienced service members. This course can be improved by providing additional online resources beforehand to the group to address any knowledge gaps and providing the participants with opportunities to maintain their skills and knowledge.

Location Name
Prince Georges Exhibit Hall A/B
Content Presented on Behalf of
Uniformed Services University
Learning Outcomes
Following this session, the attendee will be able to <br />
1. Learn how a 15-hour ultrasound course is enough to prepare service members to perform an E-FAST exam in a stressful environment. <br />
2. Summarize what an effective operational ultrasound curriculum consists of. <br />
3. Understand the indications and importance of ultrasound, especially the E-FAST exam, in operational environments.
Session Type
Posters