Portable Ultrasound Used to Reduce a Dislocated Shoulder in the Wilderness

What is it about?

Ultrasound is an increasingly useful tool for health care providers to image the body. It does not use radiation and does not cause any harm. It uses sound waves to see "inside" the body. In this case, it was used to confirm a dislocated shoulder (a shoulder out of its joint) in the wilderness. It was then used to identify the joint space for a numbing agent to be injected, and once the shoulder was reduced (put back in place), it was used to confirm the joint was indeed in place.

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Why is it important?

This is the first time, to our knowledge, a case has been published using ultrasound to complete a medical procedure in the wilderness. It also demonstrates some key elements about the Carolina Wilderness EMS Externship, the training program in the context of which this procedure was done.

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