The device helping STARS Air Ambulance give care in rural Manitoba
For centuries, the stethoscope has been one of a doctor's best tools which allows them to hear what's going on inside the body.
But when you're in a helicopter, a stethoscope is useless. That is why air medical teams have a different tool at hand, one that has the potential to bring better care to rural and remote Manitobans.
“It’s kind of dubbed as the new stethoscope of the 21st century if you will,” said Dr. Tom Jelic, a STARS Air Ambulance transport physician and an attending ER physician at Health Sciences Centre Winnipeg and St. Boniface Hospital.
The device, called a point-of-care ultrasound or POCUS, is about the size of a human hand. The probe plugs into an iPhone allowing the medical team to see inside a patient's body in seconds. The information can steer the air ambulance to take patients from wherever they are in Manitoba to the appropriate hospital.
"It's pretty eye opening when you go to rural sites in Manitoba is a lot of places don't have basic diagnostic imaging. So simple things like an X-ray that we take for granted at HSC or St. Boniface. They don’t have that," Jelic said.
He is now a part of project ARCTICA, research working to get POCUS into the hands of rural and remote health care providers on the ground.
One problem though, training people traditionally would mean taking a doctor, nurse or doctors assistant out of their community
"It essentially leaves the community potentially understaffed or under-resourced for a period of time while that individual undergoes training. So the thought was how can we kind of meld those two problems and fix them?"
The fix is teaching people through a series of online videos and remotely teaching new skills while also providing real-time support. Jelic compares it to a phone-a-friend service.
"If there is something you're not sure what you're looking at or something you want a second set of eyes on, there is going to be an expert that you can contact that can hopefully, kind of, support our rural and remote communities in Manitoba," Jelic said.
ARCTICA is also hoping to show just how powerful POCUS can be.
"If we can keep people in their home communities and manage them safely and identify those patients who do need to be taken out and medevaced sooner, we anticipate the patient impact will be and the impact, I believe, will be pretty significant."
After using POCUS himself for seven years, Jelic said he can't imagine practising medicine without it.
He added that a handful of Winnipeg doctors have completed the video training and were able to start using the ultrasound competently in about a month. He said point of care ultrasound probes have been sent to Cross Lake and Garden Hill.
Winnipeg is one site of the ARCTICA study, which is based at Queen's University.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passes aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan with big bipartisan vote
The U.S. Senate has passed US$95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars.
Wildfire southwest of Peace River spurs evacuation order
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
World seeing near breakdown of international law amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Amnesty says
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Train derailed in Sarnia after colliding with a truck
Police are investigating after a transport truck collided with a train in Sarnia.
Fewer medical students going into family medicine contributing to doctor shortage
As some family doctors are retiring and others are moving away from family medicine, there are fewer medical students to take their place.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.