The Sarasota County Fire Department has a new tool to deliver immediate life-saving care in emergencies. The Butterfly iQ3 ultrasound system allows paramedics to conduct live telemedicine consults with the departmentโs EMS medical directors, who can see the patient and ultrasound images in real-time. Beforehand, paramedics could only check a patientโs blood pressure and other parameters to determine if they were bleeding internally. Now, the ultrasound will speed up the process to see if a patient needs a blood transfusion, a program that began in February, already saving more than 15 lives.
โWe wanted to make sure we didnโt miss any patients that might have issues. That might be internal bleeding internally that we would never have known. If theyโre bleeding internally, we donโt have CT scanners on our trucks or x-rays, but the technology is now to where we can have ultrasounds hooked to iPads on our trucks,โ said Sarasota County Assistant Chief of EMS Operations Brian Nadler. The ultrasound machines are carried in EMS captainsโ vehicles throughout the county. The machines were purchased with funds from a state grant and complement the fire departmentโs whole blood program. Only a handful of fire departments in the country can do blood transfusions.
โWe have learned so far nationally, there are only around 300 departments in the country that do whole blood. And weโve already learned the faster you give whole blood to somebody that needs it, the better chance of survival,โ said Nadler. The SCFD also said the new ultrasound will help doctors in the hospital. โIt also has a telemedicine application as well, so say if someone is has blood around their heart, we might see something thatโs totally outside of our scope of practice and protocol, but the doctor can see it live at the same time and determine if they want to assist with a different source of treatment,โ said Nadler.
The paramedics received additional training on how to conduct exams to help determine injuries such as collapsed lung, heart injuries, or blood pooling in the body after traumatic injuries. The Sarasota County Fire Department has 5 Butterfly iQ3 ultrasounds and said itโs hoping in the next three to four years to have the devices on every ambulance.
