The ELS Course^TM  

Echo in Life Support

Bedside or point of care ultrasound is now commonplace in emergency departments and critical care units internationally. The benefit of focused echocardiography in the arrest and peri-arrest setting has been demonstrated and has now been taken up by organizations such as the European and UK Resuscitation Councils (ALS), the American Heart Association (ACLS), the College of Emergency Medicine (CEM), Intensive Care Society (ICS), and the British Society for Echocardiography (BSE) among others.

The ELS Course^TM is a one day international course introducing the role of focused echo in the resuscitation setting. The course covers the practical skills and knowledge base required to integrate focused echo into current life support algorithms.

The curriculum covers focused echocardiography as outlined by the College of Emergency Medicine and European Resuscitation Council.

Faculty includes experienced users and teachers of emergency ultrasound from specialties including emergency medicine, acute medicine and intensive care medicine.

Click here for further details on upcoming courses.

What is ELS?

Echo in Life Support (ELS) is a limited echocardiogram used in the setting of cardiac arrest (primarily in PEA and asystole), where the heart is scanned during a rhythm check for the presence of wall motion and for evidence of readily treatable causes of PEA (especially cardiac tamponade).  The subxiphoid view is primarily used, followed, if required, by parasternal or apical four chamber views. Addition of a view of the  inferior vena cava (IVC) for size and collapsibility may also be useful in the peri-arrest setting.

ELS Overview

ELS in the EMJ

References

1.    College of Emergency Medicine. Emergency medicine ultrasound level 1 training. 2009. http://www.collemergencymed.ac.uk/asp/document.asp?ID=3444&subID=249&Cat=College of Emergency Medicine.

2.    A position statement: echocardiography in the critically ill. On behalf of a Collaborative Working Group of the British Society of Echocardiography (BSE). Journal of the Intensive Care Society 2008 (9);197-98.

3.    Resuscitation Council (UK). Adult advanced life support guidelines. 2010. http://www.resus.org.uk/pages/als.pdf.

4.    Hayhurst C, Burt C, Atkinson PR, et al. An evaluation of echo in life support (ELS): is it feasible? What does it add? Emerg Med J 2010. doi:10.1136/emj.2009.084202. Accessed 18th October 2010 at http://emj.bmj.com/content/early/2010/10/03/emj.2009.084202

5.    Focused Echocardiography in Emergency Life Support (FEEL-UK). http://www.feel-uk.com/about.php