Isr Med Assoc J
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Randomized Controlled Trial
A randomized, controlled, blinded evaluation of augmenting point-of-care ultrasound and remote telementored ultrasound in inexperienced operators.
Handheld ultrasound devices present an opportunity for prehospital sonographic assessment of trauma, even in the hands of novice operators commonly found in military, maritime, or other austere environments. However, the reliability of such point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) examinations by novices is rightly questioned. A common strategy being examined to mitigate this reliability gap is remote mentoring by an expert. ⋯ Telementoring of POCUS tasks was not found to improve performance by novices, but findings suggest that it may mitigate caregiver stress.