RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION DESIGN © 2015 www.PosterPresentations.com Focused Assessment using Sonography for Trauma (FAST) is widely used as part of the primary survey in the multiply injured trauma patient. This audit aims to improve the quality of documentation of FAST examinations carried out in the context of blunt abdominal trauma in a busy London emergency department. INTRODUCTION STANDARD RESULTS OF 1 ST AUDIT ROUND All CT requests which included the abdomen and made from a single emergency department over a five-year period (from May 2009 – May 2014) were scrutinised. For those requested following blunt abdominal trauma, the patient notes were studied for documentation of a FAST examination. Each set of notes containing reference to a FAST examination were further inspected for the presence of: a report, the name of the operator, and the designation of the operator. CONCLUSIONS The introduction of laminated instructions significantly improved the quality of documentation of FAST examinations in the department. It is hoped that this will benefit patient safety through better handover of patient information. Re-audit is planned in 12 months. REFERENCES & CORRESPONDENCE 1. The Royal College of Radiologists. Standards of practice and guidance for trauma radiology in severely injured patients. London: The Royal College of Radiologists, 2011. Correspondence to: Dr James Russell, SpR Radiology, Royal Free Hospital, email: [email protected] The standards set by the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) [1] state that the documentation of each FAST examination should include: 1) A report 2) The name of the operator 3) The designation of the operator Department of Radiology, Northwick Park Hospital, London, UK Russell J, Hirji H METHODS Documentation of FAST examinations in blunt abdominal trauma – are we rushing the job? A total of 41 FAST examinations were carried out over our five-year study period. Three sets of patient notes contained no documentation of a FAST examination, despite it being present on the CT request form. Only 10/41 sets of notes made reference to the name of the operator, and only 2/41 sets of notes made reference to the designation of the operator. 1 ST ACTION PLAN Laminated instructions highlighting the RCR standards were attached to the two ultrasound machines in the department, and re-audit was carried out over a three-month period. RESULTS OF 2 ND AUDIT ROUND A total of 10 FAST examinations were carried out during our re-audit period. All were documented in the patient notes. 7/10 sets of notes made reference to the name of the operator, and 4/10 sets of notes made reference to the designation of the operator. A) Report Yes No B) Name of operator Yes No C) Designation of operator Yes No Figure 2. Pie charts illustrating proportion of FAST examinations with documented evidence of: A) a report, B) the name of the operator and C) the designation of the operator. Figure 1. A simulation of FAST being performed at the patient bedside.