Welcome to our POCUS in Urgent Care Centres course. This is a full day ultrasound workshop for rural GPs and will take place in Castlemaine on Saturday 22^nd March 2025.

The aim of the course is to allow you to develop your skills in point-of-care ultrasound. Topics covered include:

• An introduction to basic physics, set-up and use of the machine
• EFAST (extended focussed assessment with sonography in trauma)
• Abdominal aortic aneurysm
• US guided vascular access
• US guided nerve blocks

There are still a few places left, see the attached flyer for details of how to register.

We will keep this page updated with any new information relating to the course, in addition to emailing you directly.

Pre-reading and reference material

To get the most out of the course, we have put together some resources to work through. We would strongly encourage you to work through these in advance. Do start early as they may take some time to get through.

ACEM Modules

ACEM (Australasian College for Emergency Medicine) have put together some excellent online modules covering a range of POCUS topics. The modules are also an excellent resource to refer back to.

Please complete the following modules:

• Introduction to ED POCUS
• AAA
• EFAST
• Foundation Physics
• Procedural Guidance- Vascular Access
• Introduction to Procedural Guidance
• Regional Anaesthesia

You can register for free access, see instructions here.

Once logged in, click on the ‘courses’ tab at the top of the page then ‘ultrasound’ to access the relevant modules.

Nerve Blocks

Here is a one page summary on how to manage local anaesthetic systemic toxicity

The following videos give a good overview of several different blocks:

• Fascia Iliaca block
• Femoral nerve block
• Upper limb nerve blocks
• Ankle blocks

Useful Apps

• Anso
• Nerve Block
• New York School of Regional Anaesthesia

ED Central Ultrasound Resources

Also check out our website for a range of useful resources

Of particular use and worth watching prior to the course are the videos demonstrating various scanning techniques, do check out the ones on EFAST, AAA, US guided vascular access and the fascia iliaca block.

The one-page quick-reference resources nicely summarise eFAST, AAA and Vascular Access. We will have printed copies of these available for you on the day.

The website also has a number of cases demonstrating the use of POCUS in clinical practice, powerpoint presentations and pre-recorded lectures and resource sheets covering other common POCUS scans.

The Course

The course consists of both lectures and small-group practical scanning sessions.

A provisional timetable can be found here.

The scanning sessions will take place in small groups with a machine, a volunteer model and a facilitator. We will arrange you in groups of similar experience to maximise learning from each other. You will get plenty of hands-on scanning experience and lots of opportunities to ask questions throughout the day. The faculty will be around during the breaks to ask any further questions or for further practice.

In order to help us prepare better for the course could you please answer the following questions:

• What is your current level of experience using ultrasound?
• What do you use ultrasound for in your current clinical practice?
• What machine(s) do you currently have access to?
• What three questions would you like answered from this course?

Email responses to Di Price.

Looking forward to seeing you all on 22^nd March