Use of point-of-care ultrasound in rural British Columbia: Scale, training, and barriers.

Objective: To determine the scale and scope of use of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) in rural British Columbia (BC).

Design: Online survey.

Setting: Rural BC.

Rural family physician use of point-of-care ultrasonography: experiences of primary care providers in British Columbia, Canada.

Background: In British Columbia (BC), rural and remote areas lack proximal access to radiographic services. Poor access to radiographic services in rural settings presents a challenge to timely diagnosis and screening across many disease states and healthy pregnancies. As a solution to the lack of access to radiographic services in rural settings, the Rural Coordination Centre of BC (RCCbc) supported rural Family Physicians (FPs) wishing to use PoCUS through the Intelligent Network for PoCUS (IN PoCUS) program.

Community ACTION boards: an innovative model for effective community-academic research partnerships.

Background: Community-based participatory research (CBPR) requires equitable partnerships between community stakeholders and academics. Traditionally, researchers relied on community advisory boards, but these boards often play a reactive role limited to a project-by-project basis. The East and Central Harlem Health Outcomes (ECHHO) Community Action Board (CAB), however, is an effective, proactive group.

Accelerated venovenous hemofiltration: early technical and clinical experience.

Background: Renal replacement therapies other than intermittent hemodialysis are often required in hemodynamically unstable patients. Continuous renal replacement therapies use a slow blood flow rate, necessitating anticoagulation and prolonged treatment times that may create difficulties with staffing and limit patient diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. We developed an alternative strategy based on a higher blood flow rate that allows increased rates of hemofiltration, no anticoagulation, and a shorter ("accelerated") treatment period.