More than 40 physicians, advanced practice providers and trainees from the Midwest turned out last month for the inaugural multidisciplinary Pediatric Point of Care Ultrasonography (POCUS) workshop.
The event, held at Children’s Hospital & Medical Center, was organized by the UNMC Division of Pediatric Anesthesiology Chief Jorge Gálvez, MD, and assistant professor Marcellene Franzen, MD, in collaboration with visiting professor Elaina Lin, MD, from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
Point-of-care ultrasonography, which Dr. Galvez described as “a fancier stethoscope,” is not a new technology. The widespread application across disciplines is offering new advantages to professionals such as physicians, nurse practitioners and other providers not formally trained in pediatric radiology or pediatric cardiology.
There are numerous benefits to incorporating POCUS in pediatric care, including completing bedside evaluation of such organ systems as the heart and lungs.
“Ultrasound studies are formally conducted by pediatric radiologists and cardiologists,” Dr. Galvez said. “The widespread availability of ultrasound devices allows more providers to incorporate them in their routine activities to evaluate patients.
“Real-time echocardiography can play an instrumental role in guiding resuscitation efforts for critically ill patients,” he said.
The two-day workshop featured didactic and hands-on training sessions with faculty from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Texas Children’s Hospital, Children’s and UNMC.
“There’s nothing like this offered in this region, so we brought in faculty from several different specialties, not just anesthesiologists,” Dr. Franzen said. “We invited national experts in pediatric critical care medicine, pediatric cardiology, neonatology, pediatric hospital medicine, pediatric emergency medicine and pediatric anesthesiology to share their expertise.”
The Omaha workshop had significant benefits for attendees who are working to establish point-of-care ultrasonography programs in their practices.
“Each specialty has advanced at its own pace and training program, and as a result, within an institution, one specialty might be further ahead. There can be a huge education gap when people are left to their own devices,” Dr. Gálvez said. “So, everybody got together and decided to train collectively instead.”
Dr. Franzen said holding the POCUS workshop in Omaha made it more accessible and affordable for professionals in the region, many of whom have expressed interest in POCUS training.
“Our goal was to bring this technology to all our physicians, and we have five or six different divisions. Each division has more than 10 physicians in its practice,” Dr. Gálvez said. “Sending every one of those people to a course would be difficult, considering logistics and cost. It was more effective to bring the faculty here.”
Following lectures, attendees had the opportunity to practice POCUS skills in real time with direction from the expert faculty. The course also used children as model “patients”; many of them were connected to Children’s or UNMC faculty, nurses, staff and clinicians in some way. Dr. Franzen’s own children volunteered their time for the event.
“People loved that we had child models during the hands-on training sessions,” Dr. Franzen said. “It was fun, and they all did great. It was exciting for my own children to take part, as well.”
Dr. Franzen said she herself was excited about the potential for POCUS in pediatric anesthesiology.
“For example, once we're comfortable with this technology, we can decrease our time to successfully place an IV in an arterial line, which obviously benefits the patient with fewer pokes whether they're awake or asleep,” she said.
The POCUS workshop is a foundational step toward implementing a formal point-of-care ultrasonography program and is aligned with both Children’s mission to improve the life of every child and UNMC’s mission to transform lives and create healthier futures. Drs. Franzen and Gálvez called the event a success and plan to bring it back next year -- only bigger.
“I really want to expand the audience, because I underestimated how great it would be -- how much fun it would be, honestly,” Dr. Franzen said. “So, I really want to get the word out, expanding the audience to pull more people in both locally and regionally.”
The POCUS workshop also directly reflected two of the values of the UNMC Department of Anesthesiology: learning and innovation, along with safety, healing, teamwork and resilience, said Mohanad Shukry, MD, executive vice chair of the department.
“It is not surprising that our pediatric and adult anesthesiologists play a leading role in introducing innovative technology and education,” Dr. Shukry said. “We are the only department that purchased individual probes for POCUS for its residents. We are very proud of Drs. Franzen and Galvez for leading, organizing and conducting this workshop here in Omaha. They have our gratitude.”