Support this fundraiser
Summary:
Handheld bedside ultrasounds used by experienced providers have the potential to improve detection of COVID-19 while increasing provider safety. This fundraiser is aimed at providing our team of Emergency Medicine residents a set of ultrasounds to aid in the assessment and treatment of the communities we serve.
What do we need funding for?
There is a rising body of evidence that suggests that Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) can provide significant diagnostic evidence to support identification of viral pneumonias in patients being screened for COVID-19. Traditional plain film chest radiographs have limited sensitivity and can often miss critical subtle findings that can be seen on US.
CT scans are typically the gold standard in diagnosis but are a finite resource in a highly stressed emergency department with protocols for cleaning that can take up to 2 hours in-between use by patients on COVID isolation.
Furthermore, traditional lung auscultation places the provider performing the exam at an increased risk due to the closer proximity necessary to perform the exam with a stethoscope when compared to POCUS.
Traditional bedside ultrasounds are large machines making them cumbersome to quickly maneuver with large surface areas to clean which pose increased risk of pathogen spread. They are significantly more expensive when compared to handheld devices. Many of the advanced features of these larger ultrasounds are of little utility in focused lung examination.
The following is an example of a handheld bedside ultrasound:
https://www.butterflynetwork.com/covid-19
Why do we need your support?
Graduate Medical Education (GME) training programs are funded by Medicare, a stressed system with a limited budget. Residents typically carry high debt loads and make a significantly reduced income during their training compared to a post residency trained attending physician. It is common and often expected that residents work up to 80 hours per week for several years of their training. We are already seeing these hourly restrictions lifted in places like NY as they attempt to fight this pandemic.
It is expected that as residents we provide our own bedside assessment tools such as stethoscopes, reflex hammers, etc. Each ultrasound costs approximately $2,000, a difficult amount for a resident physician to pay out of pocket.
Our plan:
The purpose of this fund is to provide our Emergency Medicine residents team an additional tool that can be implemented immediately to help improve patient care and provide greater safety.
We are asking for your support in the purchase of 8 ultrasounds to be made available for the on-shift resident providers at our training sites.
As of 3/31, Southern California already has 4,644 confirmed cases and 84 deaths. In the coming weeks we are preparing for a significant surge in ER visits and acuity of presenting illness.
Additionally, these devices will continue to aid us in our bedside evaluation of numerous other medical conditions well beyond this current pandemic.
Even if we do not meet our total goal, each additional US made available in the Emergency Department has the potential to make an impact.
Sincerely,
Erik A. Madsen, MD
Emergency Medicine, PGY-2
Further reading:
Buonsenso, D., Pata, D. and Chiaretti, A., 2020. COVID-19 Outbreak: Less Stethoscope, More Ultrasound.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600(20)30120-X/fulltext
Disclaimer:
This fundraiser is independent of the views of the training sites of our team members.
Handheld bedside ultrasounds used by experienced providers have the potential to improve detection of COVID-19 while increasing provider safety. This fundraiser is aimed at providing our team of Emergency Medicine residents a set of ultrasounds to aid in the assessment and treatment of the communities we serve.
What do we need funding for?
There is a rising body of evidence that suggests that Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) can provide significant diagnostic evidence to support identification of viral pneumonias in patients being screened for COVID-19. Traditional plain film chest radiographs have limited sensitivity and can often miss critical subtle findings that can be seen on US.
CT scans are typically the gold standard in diagnosis but are a finite resource in a highly stressed emergency department with protocols for cleaning that can take up to 2 hours in-between use by patients on COVID isolation.
Furthermore, traditional lung auscultation places the provider performing the exam at an increased risk due to the closer proximity necessary to perform the exam with a stethoscope when compared to POCUS.
Traditional bedside ultrasounds are large machines making them cumbersome to quickly maneuver with large surface areas to clean which pose increased risk of pathogen spread. They are significantly more expensive when compared to handheld devices. Many of the advanced features of these larger ultrasounds are of little utility in focused lung examination.
The following is an example of a handheld bedside ultrasound:
https://www.butterflynetwork.com/covid-19
Why do we need your support?
Graduate Medical Education (GME) training programs are funded by Medicare, a stressed system with a limited budget. Residents typically carry high debt loads and make a significantly reduced income during their training compared to a post residency trained attending physician. It is common and often expected that residents work up to 80 hours per week for several years of their training. We are already seeing these hourly restrictions lifted in places like NY as they attempt to fight this pandemic.
It is expected that as residents we provide our own bedside assessment tools such as stethoscopes, reflex hammers, etc. Each ultrasound costs approximately $2,000, a difficult amount for a resident physician to pay out of pocket.
Our plan:
The purpose of this fund is to provide our Emergency Medicine residents team an additional tool that can be implemented immediately to help improve patient care and provide greater safety.
We are asking for your support in the purchase of 8 ultrasounds to be made available for the on-shift resident providers at our training sites.
As of 3/31, Southern California already has 4,644 confirmed cases and 84 deaths. In the coming weeks we are preparing for a significant surge in ER visits and acuity of presenting illness.
Additionally, these devices will continue to aid us in our bedside evaluation of numerous other medical conditions well beyond this current pandemic.
Even if we do not meet our total goal, each additional US made available in the Emergency Department has the potential to make an impact.
Sincerely,
Erik A. Madsen, MD
Emergency Medicine, PGY-2
Further reading:
Buonsenso, D., Pata, D. and Chiaretti, A., 2020. COVID-19 Outbreak: Less Stethoscope, More Ultrasound.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600(20)30120-X/fulltext
Disclaimer:
This fundraiser is independent of the views of the training sites of our team members.