Point-of-care ultrasound for all – teaching, training and use at every opportunity

Abstract

Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) was used by a group of South African emergency unit doctors more than a decade ago, and the first publication came from a district hospital in rural KwaZulu-Natal, reporting on their experience using focused assessment with sonography in trauma (FAST).¹ The anaesthesiology fraternity have promised to research POCUS for the past 10 years. Certain goals in teaching, training and the use of perioperative ultrasound have been reached, and anecdotally POCUS is being used perioperatively by anaesthesia providers. However, relevant research is overdue.