Our ED admin recently asked us for a “wishlist” of equipment to purchase. We have an aging portable SonoSite currently as our machine. If you could pick a machine, which would you choose? (If you are really in the know, midrange and luxury model options would be great)
I think it also depends on a bit on your set up, use of space, and intended uses (will you also be doing endocavitary ultrasound? do you intend to bill for these ultrasound images and if so do you need the ability to print pictures easily or interact with some EMR or are the machines going to be there to just guide your management? are there machines that the majority of your department is already familiar with?)
For a general purpose ED workhorse, I still haven't seen anything better than the Sonosite M-turbo. In general, I feel Sonosite have a somewhat more intuitive UI. It seems to be better at surviving the abuses of an emergency department, and has a better foot print than most comparable machines.
However, this could be an opportunity to try something novel, like getting a couple of the newer handheld machines (personal favorite is the Sonosite IVIZ, but the GE V Scan is pretty similar). The huge upside is how compact they are, which is a game changer. I don't know what your ED set up is like, but at places I've worked the necessity of maneouvering around furniture/stretchers/etc was one of the more annoying barriers to doing more point of care ultrasound. This option completely gets rid of that. The downside is that these machines have fewer probes to choose from (typically just a lower frequency cardiac/abdominal probe and a high frequency vascular probe, but not an endocavitary probe). You also run the risk of having these machines get lost/stolen, so you would have to come up with a solution that fits your environment. But if you looking for a basic machine to do line, look at heart, IVC, rule out pneumothorax, do a FAST then this is great. I also found these to be excellent for teaching (easier to turn screen around, bring the machine to another room to show an image, etc), if that's a consideration.
Whatever you do, don't buy blind. Narrow it down to 2-3 options and then get the techs from these companies come and give you guys a demo. Some of them will bring their own "patient" to scan, for others you will need to find a volunteer. But a demo should include the end user scanning a living person and getting images. The reps will be happy to show their merch and you will get a much better sense of what you like.
Also, it's a good idea to have whoever is in charge of the purchasing decision/budget for the demo. Particularly if they don't know anything about ultrasound. They will think its the most amazing thing and are going to feel much better about any purchase.
