Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Portable Ultrasound Machines Can Help EMS Professionals Diagnose Injuries

Scott Willis
/
WAER News

Most Central New Yorkers probably picture an ultrasound machine as large unit in a dark room at a hospital or doctor's office.  Well, advances in technology have shrunk the devices to about the size of a tablet, and they're small enough to carry in the tight confines of a rescue helicopter. 
   Director of EMS Education at SUNY Upstate Christian Knutsen says ultrasound machines once relegated to hospitals have come a long way from the large units that radiologists struggled to read not that long ago.  
  EMS professionals Monday got hands-on training with the portable units on real patients.  The workshop at Onondaga Community College marked the beginning of national EMS week.  

Credit Scott Willis / WAER News
/
WAER News
Clinical educator and flight nurse with MercyFlight Central Joseph Wlostowski (right) helps an EMT guide the wand to the ultrasound to generate images on the machine (bottom).

  But the devices are still relatively new, so they're expensive.  

ULTRA_WEB_2.mp3
Hear Monroe Community College Lead Paramedic Instructor Peter Bonadonna and EMTs using the portable ultrasound on a "patient" during a demonstration.

  Each unit costs anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000, putting them out of reach for all but the largest EMS operations.  Knutsen with SUNY Upstate says it makes more sense for agencies like rural metro to adopt the technology first.  He expects to see other EMS providers pick up the units as the price comes down, probably within the next 3 to 5 years.  
 

Scott Willis covers politics, local government, transportation, and arts and culture for WAER. He came to Syracuse from Detroit in 2001, where he began his career in radio as an intern and freelance reporter. Scott is honored and privileged to bring the day’s news and in-depth feature reporting to WAER’s dedicated and generous listeners. You can find him on twitter @swillisWAER and email him at srwillis@syr.edu.