The Queen’s Hospital Emergency Department in Romford is showing off their four new Sonosite point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) machines which will allow them to examine patients quickly and accurately. Queen's Hospital, one of the busiest emergency wards in London, has a total of six Sonosite ultrasound machines.
The portable POCUS machines are critical because they allow hospital staff to bring imaging directly to the patient’s bedside so that doctors have immediate ultrasound imaging available for decision making and diagnosis.
Emergency Department consultant Darryl Wood is impressed with the Sonosite devices.
"These machines are the future. There are so many benefits. For us in the Emergency Department, we often need to do things quickly and accurately – there and then. So this will enable that, but it’s also going to help us with making decisions for treating and referring patients earlier.For example, if a patient comes in with a suspected fracture, we can use this device straight away to confirm that, and make an immediate, informed decision about the next steps – perhaps that’s referring for an x-ray, and immediately we could provide appropriate pain relief and immobilize the injury.”
Wood is also excited about the Sonosite machines’ applications in training and research.
"Using this technology is a mandatory requirement for registrar training, so it’s really valuable as a learning opportunity,” he added, “and will help us showcase [Queen’s Hospital] as a great place for doctors to develop. We will also use this technology to do some exciting and valuable research."