Echo training in ICU

Todd Fraser on 28-08-2011

Echocardiography is becoming increasingly popular in the Intensive Care setting. Access to appropriate equipment is almost universal. The issue now is establishing appropriate credentialling to ensure practitioners use the process safely and effectively. A number of echo qualifications are now available - the University of Melbourne offer a remote post graduate qualification, as do the Australian Society of Ultrasound, while the University of Queensland will join them soon. These courses focus largely on the theory of echo and require practitioners to gain experience elsewhere. Guidelines exist in other areas of medicine, particularly the colleges of radiology and cardiology, pertaining to minimum credentialling requirements. While attempts have been made to develop a similar tool for ICU, these are not universally accepted. So how should ICU echocardiography proceed? In the coming months, Crit-IQ will release an on-line echo resource, complete with teaching modules, reading materials and sample echos. The aim will be to provide critical care practitioners with experiential learning on line, filling some of the deficit in this skill acquisition process. Stay tuned...

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AMIT KANSAL wrote 08-28-2011 11:02:49 pm
Being a new learner of the trade, I can surely identify cases where a focused Echo exam did change the Mx dramatically - including Rx of otherwise unrecognized large pericardial tamponade (clinically looked like severe pulmonary HTN or large PE)/ poor LV function in ARDS (clinical impression was acute cor pulmonale affecting LV) & few more.
Issue remains - what is a focused exam! How much expertise is enough!

Oliver Arkell wrote 08-29-2011 06:25:41 pm
I did the Leura course with Tony McLean and his mates a few years back. The theory was pretty good, though I'd been fiddling with echo for a few years. The best bit was the hands on with the sonographers.

I heard that the RACE course that the Nepean group now do is even better - its a formatted focused exam for rapid assessment.

Lots of people have done the Melbourne course but not many seem to rave about it. The ASUM one seems a bit long for most, but those who have done it say its great. I haven't heard anything about the Queensland course