Brian Hagberg
WARREN, Pa. – Warren General Hospital announced Friday that it has purchased a new point-of-care ultrasound machine for use in the Emergency Room.
WGH said the funds for this purchase were donated by the Community Foundation of Warren County, Community Foundation component Funds; the DeFrees Family Memorial Funds, and the Libonati Fund.
“The purchase of this machine for our Emergency Department will assist in timely diagnoses leading to quicker intervention and improved patient outcomes,” WGH said in a release. “Warren General Hospital is grateful for the ongoing support from the Community Foundation of Warren County, and the DeFrees Family Memorial and Libonati Funds.”
Ultrasound is a painless imaging procedure that uses sound waves to instantly display images of organs, tissues, or other structures inside the body on a computer screen. Unlike CT, MRI, and X-Ray, ultrasound does not use any form of radiation which permits its use on every patient. The hospital said that making ultrasound available to the emergency department can lead to faster diagnoses, increased IV insertion success, reduced patient discomfort, reduced complications, decreased wait times, and cost savings.
“This equipment would allow us to perform FAST exams (Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma) to quickly assess and diagnose traumatic injuries where blunt or penetrating trauma has occurred such as car accidents, falls, or gunshot wounds,” WGH said. “During cardiac arrest, providers can use ultrasound to immediately and definitively watch the heart for spontaneous activity which is imperative in the proper treatment of cardiac events. For critically ill patients, ultrasound can be used for guided insertion of a “central” IV line which is crucial for medications to be delivered simultaneously without fear of IV access being lost during resuscitation.
“For patients with respiratory illnesses, we can rapidly visualize the entire lung. The more rapidly we can diagnose a condition, the sooner we can begin treatment, thereby shortening the time of patient discomfort and improving outcomes. The American Board of Emergency Medicine considers ultrasound-guided insertion to be the standard of care.”
