The American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) and the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) have jointly published guidelines covering how to perform focused assessment with sonography in trauma (FAST) examinations.
FAST examinations are used to evaluate an injured patient immediately during resuscitation to detect large abnormal fluid collections or other collections that need immediate treatment. The procedure is taught to more than 95% of emergency medicine residents.
A copy of "Guideline for the Performance of the FAST Examination" is available at www.aium.org or at www.acep.org.
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