Prehospital Use of Ultrasound in Undifferentiated Shortness of Breath

At each call, the paramedic will initially evaluate the patient clinically conducting a standard history and physical exam. The paramedic will then use the portable U/S machine to look for the presence of either unilateral or bilateral B-lines indicating possible pneumonia (in the case of unilateral B-lines) or pulmonary edema (in the case of bilateral B-lines). The paramedic will then document the presence or absence of B-lines for each lung on the prehospital study sheet. The paramedic will then use the U/S to evaluate for the presence of pleural effusions, lung sliding and pericardial effusion.