The purchase was made possible by the support of the Community Foundation of Warren County, and two Community Foundation component funds, the DeFrees Family Memorial Funds, and the Libonati Fund.

Ultrasound is a painless imaging procedure that uses sound waves to instantly display images of organs, tissues, or other structures inside the body on a computer screen. Unlike CT, MRI, and X-Ray, ultrasound does not use any form of radiation which permits its use on every patient. The benefits of adding a bedside ultrasound machine to the the Warren General Hospital emergency department is an overall improvement in the quality of care resulting from several factors, including but not limited to; faster diagnosis of traumatic injuries and cardiac arrests, increased central intravenous (IV) and peripheral IV insertion success, reduction in patient discomfort, reduced complications, decreased wait times, and cost savings.

This equipment would allow the hospital to perform FAST exams (Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma) to quickly assess and diagnose traumatic injuries where blunt or penetrating trauma has occurred such as car accidents, falls, or gunshot wounds. During cardiac arrest, providers can use ultrasound to immediately and definitively watch the heart for spontaneous activity which is imperative in the proper treatment of cardiac events.

For critically ill patients, ultrasound can be used for guided insertion of a “central” IV line which is crucial for medications to be delivered simultaneously without fear of IV access being lost during resuscitation. For patients with respiratory illnesses, we can rapidly visualize the entire lung.

From left are Richard Allen, Warren General Hospital CEO; Kelsey Watkins of Warren General Hospital; Lisa To of the DeFrees Family Memorial Funds; Ali Clark of Warren General Hospital, Mike DelPrince of the DeFrees Family Memorial Funds; Stephanie Freitag of the DeFrees Family Memorial Funds; Bob Crowley of the DeFrees Family Memorial Funds; Bernie Hessley of the DeFrees Family Memorial Funds; and Dr. Scott Schoenborn of Warren General Hospital.

The more rapidly we can diagnose a condition, the sooner we can begin treatment, thereby shortening the time of patient discomfort and improving outcomes.

The American Board of Emergency Medicine considers ultrasound-guided insertion to be the standard of care.

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