FAST

The Departments of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery at Liverpool Hospital offer a one day “FAST (Focused Assessment With Sonography for Trauma) Emergency Ultrasound” Course at Liverpool Hospital.  The course introduces the principles of ultrasound and its techniques such as EFAST, AAA Assessment, Vascular Access, and ECHO for unstable and critically ill patients.   The course also offers “hands-on” practical sessions with real & simulated patients. Experienced faculty will develop your technical and interpretation skills and enable you to integrate or extend ultrasound use and findings in your practice. 

The course aims to provide:

  • Concise overview of the role and evolution of FAST in modern day trauma care
  • Identify some basic principles of the physics of ultrasound
  • Provide practical demonstrations of FAST and EFAST
  • Identification of AAA
  • Techniques of Vascular Access
  • Principles of Basic ECHO
  • Identify some of the pitfalls in the techniques

TARGET AUDIENCE:

This course is designed for those working in the critical care setting such as Surgery, Emergency Medicine and Critical Care to ensure a fundamental understanding of the techniques and interpretation of ultrasound at the bedside with a focus on EFAST, AAA detection, Vascular access and Basic ECHO.

COURSE ENQUIRIES:

Sally Forrest
Trauma Case Manager, FAST Course Coordinator
Phone: +61 2 8738 3427
Email: Sally.ForrestHorder@health.nsw.gov.au

Leanne McKechnie
Education & Training Manager
Phone: +61 2 8738 6489
Email: Leanne.McKechnie@health.nsw.gov.au

Dr Valerie Malka is the Director of the Trauma and Acute Care Surgical Unit at Liverpool Hospital. She was the previous Director of Trauma Services at Westmead Hospital for over a decade. She is an EMST Director and DSTC Instructor with a great passion for trauma and acute care surgery. With special interests in education and quality assurance she has worked extensively in patient safety and the maintenance of ethics in healthcare. Valerie has worked with the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Rescue Committee and holds a Diploma in International Humanitarian Assistance from Geneva University and a Master’s Degree in International Public Health with a major in Humanitarian Law. She also holds a Master’s degree in Journalism and works freelance writing medical, health and wellbeing articles.