Ultrasound Applications for Emergency Medical Technicians in Taiwan

April 24, 2025 updated by: National Taiwan University Hospital

The Development and Assessment of the Core Ultrasound Applications for Emergency Medical Technicians in Taiwan

The goal of this prospective observational study is to develop and assess the core ultrasound applications for emergency medical technicians (EMTs) in Taiwan. The study focuses on advanced emergency medical technicians (EMT-Ps) and their ability to perform point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) in prehospital settings.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

Can a standardized POCUS training program improve EMT-Ps' competency in ultrasound applications? What is the reliability and validity of the newly established POCUS assessment modules for EMT-Ps? Researchers will compare trained EMT-Ps' ultrasound proficiency and clinical decision-making before and after training to see if structured POCUS education enhances diagnostic accuracy and patient care in prehospital settings.

Participants will:

Attend a structured POCUS training program, including lectures and hands-on practice with standardized patients and simulation models.

Undergo competency assessments, including written exams, objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs), and image interpretation tests.

Perform ultrasound scans on actual patients in prehospital settings, focusing on trauma, respiratory distress, stroke, and cardiac arrest cases.

Receive feedback and participate in follow-up assessments to evaluate knowledge retention and clinical application.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

200

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients presenting with one of the following conditions in the prehospital setting:

Trauma Dyspnea (shortness of breath) Suspected stroke Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients with hemodynamic instability or critical conditions requiring immediate resuscitation, making them unsuitable for focused prehospital ultrasound performed by EMT-Ps.
  • Patients under the age of 18.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: EMT who receive POCUS curriculum
This arm includes certified advanced emergency medical technicians (EMT-P) who are enrolled in a structured point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) education program developed specifically for prehospital providers in Taiwan. Participants receive a four-hour training module composed of didactic instruction and hands-on practice focused on trauma (FAST), dyspnea (lung ultrasound), suspected stroke (carotid Doppler), and cardiac arrest (focused cardiac ultrasound). Post-training assessments include written exams and objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs). Participants will also complete follow-up assessments at six months and participate in supervised prehospital ultrasound scanning during real-world EMS missions.
Other: POCUS education curriculum
The training includes a 4-hour curriculum consisting of a 1-hour didactic session covering ultrasound principles and key applications, followed by 3 hours of hands-on practice using standardized models or phantoms under instructor supervision. Core scanning topics include Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma (FAST), lung ultrasound for dyspnea, carotid Doppler for suspected stroke, and focused cardiac ultrasound for cardiac arrest. Post-training assessments include a written test and an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Ultrasound Image Quality Score for Target Structure Visualization
Time Frame: From enrollment to one day after patient was sent to hospital
The score of ultrasound images assessing the visualization quality of target anatomical structures (e.g., blood vessels, Morrison's pouch, spleno-renal recess, cul-de-sac), evaluated using a standardized 10-point image quality rating scale (1 = Poor, 10 = Excellent). Each ultrasound image receives an overall score reflecting the adequacy of target structure visualization, as rated by trained reviewers.
From enrollment to one day after patient was sent to hospital

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

National Taiwan University Hospital

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

August 1, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

July 31, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 13, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 24, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

April 30, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 30, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 24, 2025

Last Verified

March 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 202412164RINC

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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