WAVELENGTHTUNE IN · GAIN CLARITY

Wavelength Academy · Cardiac

Focused cardiac ultrasound in the breathless or shocked patient

Answer the questions that change emergency care: is the left ventricle weak, is there fluid around the heart, is the right heart under strain, and how full is the venous system? Learn the four views, EPSS, the descending aorta landmark, the IVC and the ultrasound JVP.

  • 1.5 hours CPD
  • 6 lessons
  • 5 cases
  • 15-question assessment
  • Pass mark 80%
  • Free

Register free and start

What you will learn

  • Place focused cardiac ultrasound within the assessment of the breathless or shocked patient, and state its limits
  • Obtain the parasternal long-axis, parasternal short-axis, apical four-chamber and subcostal views
  • Estimate left ventricular systolic function by eye and with E-point septal separation
  • Separate pericardial from pleural fluid and recognise the signs which support tamponade
  • Assess right ventricular size, the inferior vena cava and the ultrasound jugular venous pressure, then document and act safely

Lessons

  1. Context: the focused questions10 min
  2. The four views15 min
  3. Left ventricular function: by eye and by EPSS15 min
  4. The pericardium: effusion, pleural fluid and tamponade15 min
  5. The right heart, the IVC and the ultrasound JVP15 min
  6. Pitfalls, documentation and safe practice10 min
  7. Cases15 min
  8. Final assessment: 15 questions, pass mark 80%9 min

Who it is for

Emergency, acute and urgent care doctors, advanced clinical practitioners and physician associates who are starting focused cardiac ultrasound or supervising others.

Your certificate

Pass the assessment and we email your certificate as a PDF: your name, the module, 1.5 hours of CPD, the date and a code anyone can check at thewavelength.co.uk/elearning/verify. Upload it to your e-portfolio with a short reflection. Wavelength issues the certificate itself. It is not accredited by an external body, so record the hours as self-directed CPD under your own college or regulator's rules. The certificate records completed learning. Sign-off to scan independently stays with your department.

About this module

Author. Dr Firas Abou-Auda, Consultant in Emergency Medicine and Course Director, Wavelength.
Published. October 2026. Next review. October 2028.
Conflicts of interest. Dr Firas Abou-Auda is Course Director of Wavelength, which runs paid ultrasound courses.

References

  1. Via G, et al. International evidence-based recommendations for focused cardiac ultrasound. Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography. 2014;27:683.e1-683.e33.
  2. Spencer KT, et al. Focused cardiac ultrasound: recommendations from the American Society of Echocardiography. Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography. 2013;26:567.
  3. McKaigney CJ, et al. E-point septal separation: a bedside tool for emergency physician assessment of left ventricular ejection fraction. American Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2014;32:493-7.
  4. Intensive Care Society. Focused Ultrasound for Intensive Care (FUSIC) Heart accreditation pathway.
  5. American College of Emergency Physicians. Ultrasound guidelines: emergency, point-of-care and clinical ultrasound guidelines in medicine. Annals of Emergency Medicine. 2023.
  6. Royal College of Emergency Medicine. Point-of-care ultrasound appendix to the RCEM curriculum.

Read the free Wavelength Pearl on this topic