Focused Ultrasound in Intensive Care (FUSIC) is the Intensive Care Society's training and accreditation pathway for critical care ultrasound. It launched in 2012 and is open to any healthcare professional, of any grade and any specialty. Intensive care is its home, but emergency physicians, acute physicians, anaesthetists and advanced practitioners all use it, particularly FUSIC Heart.
The modules
| Module | Total scans | Directly supervised (minimum) | Who oversees you | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heart | 50 | 10 | Mentor, plus a Supervisor for the triggered assessment | All four views attempted on every scan |
| Lung | 30 | 10 | Trainer | 1 scan is one patient, both lungs, 3 zones each side |
| Abdomen | 25 | 10 | Trainer | Doctors also show ultrasound-guided paracentesis |
| DVT | 10 | 5 | Trainer | At least 1 DVT, 3-point technique minimum |
| Vascular | 30 | 5 | Trainer | 5 CVC (3 supervised), 3 PICC or midline (1 supervised), 2 peripheral (1 supervised) |
| Haemodynamics (HD) | 50 | 20 | Trainer, then a central assessment | Prerequisites below, no more than 10 normal scans |
The Society also runs focused transoesophageal echo (fTOE), and lists FUSIC Neuro as coming soon.
Module details that matter in practice:
- Heart. You answer five questions: is the left ventricle significantly dilated or impaired, is the right ventricle significantly dilated or impaired, are there features of low venous return, is there a pericardial effusion, and is there a pleural effusion. Views: parasternal long axis, parasternal short axis, apical four chamber and subcostal.
- Lung. Doctors must also show competence in ultrasound-guided pleural aspiration and drainage. Nurses and allied health professionals describe it unless it is part of their routine practice.
- DVT. Use at least a 3-point technique: saphenofemoral junction, common femoral vein and popliteal vein. If you struggle to find a positive scan, the Society suggests attending a departmental DVT ultrasound list.
- Vascular. If PICC and midline insertion is not available, peripheral lines may substitute.
- Haemodynamics. Prerequisites are FUSIC Heart or BSE Level 1 (event pages also accept FEEL) and FUSIC Lung or FAMUS. FUSIC Abdomen is no longer required. HD ends with a centrally run assessment: a logbook check, a video pathology assessment in MCQ format and a hands-on practical.
Fees
Prices on the Society's website on 4 October 2026, by membership:
| Module | Non-member | Associate member | Professional member |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heart, Lung, Abdomen | £195 | £146 | £97 |
| DVT, Vascular | £129 | £97 | £65 |
HD is listed from £75. The fee covers registration, the e-learning and the certificate.
Your action plan: how to get it done
These steps are Wavelength's practical advice, built on the official requirements set out in this guide. Where a step quotes a rule, the rule comes from the source documents listed at the end.
Step 1. Find a mentor or trainer first
Use the FUSIC Directory on the Society's website to find approved mentors and trainers near you. If you cannot find one, email the learning team at learning@ics.ac.uk.
- FUSIC Heart splits the role. A Mentor reviews your scans day to day and must hold FUSIC Heart, BSE Level 1 or FEEL for at least 12 months. A Supervisor conducts your triggered assessment and must hold BSE, EACVI or ASE Level 2 transthoracic echo, be a FUSIC HD trainer, hold the European Diploma in Advanced Critical Care Echocardiography, or be a cardiologist with regular echo sessions. Approved mentors already link to a local supervisor.
- All other modules use a single Trainer, accredited in the module (or FAMUS, for Lung, Abdomen, DVT and Vascular) for at least 12 months.
No approved person locally? Ask a suitably qualified colleague to apply to the Society as a mentor or trainer before you start. The application form is short.
Step 2. Register and pay
Create an Intensive Care Society account, then add the module to your basket on the FUSIC page and pay. Registration comes before every other step. Confirmation with next steps can take up to 48 hours. Your access to accreditation content lasts exactly 24 months from registration.
Then log in to the FUSIC portal and enrol on both the accreditation pathway and the online training for your module. If enrolment is rejected, your account does not yet show the payment: contact the learning team.
Step 3. Download the packs
Download the module's training pack and assessment pack. Every form you need (reporting forms, logbook, competency sign-off and the summary training record) is in the portal once your enrolment is approved. You must use the standard FUSIC reporting form for every training scan.
Step 4. Complete the online training or an approved course
You need one or the other, not both. FEEL and BSE Level 1 courses count automatically for FUSIC Heart. Other courses may count after the Society checks them. Do the theory before your first logbook scan.
Step 5. Plan your 12-month window before your first scan
Your logbook must run from first scan to last within 12 months. For Lung, DVT and Vascular, the triggered assessment must also fall inside that window. The clock starts with your first logbook scan, not with registration, so start when you have regular patient access and a mentor or trainer available.
Work out a weekly target. For FUSIC Heart, 50 scans in 12 months is about one a week, but leave margin for leave, nights and rotations. Two a week finishes in six months with time to spare.
Step 6. Scan sick patients, with direct supervision early
- Get at least the minimum supervised scans. They need not be your first scans or consecutive, but early supervision fixes technique before bad habits set in.
- Scan unwell patients. No more than 10% of logbook studies may be on healthy volunteers, and volunteers should still be scanned in a clinical setting.
- Scans on a course no longer count as directly supervised.
- Repeat scans on the same patient count if the clinical or radiological picture has changed.
- Attempt every view on every scan. Your logbook must show you obtain all views competently.
Step 7. Store, label and review
Save every scan you do without direct supervision for your mentor or trainer to review. Label stored or exported images with a training reference, not patient details. Do not write training findings in the patient record or let them drive decisions until a trained person has verified them.
Meet your mentor or trainer every few weeks, not at the end. You should see your interpretation agree with theirs more often as the months pass. Compare your images with chest X-ray, CT and formal echo where available.
Step 8. Get your competencies signed off
When your logbook meets the numbers and case mix, your mentor (Heart) or trainer (other modules) signs off your competencies. They decide whether you have scanned enough: 50, 30, 25, 30 or 10 are minimums, and some learners need more.
Step 9. Pass the triggered assessment
For Heart, the triggered assessment is with your Supervisor. For the other modules, your Trainer conducts it. For HD, you book a central assessment day and submit your full logbook through the portal beforehand.
Step 10. Submit your summary training record
Complete the summary training record, signed and dated by your mentor and supervisor (Heart) or trainer (other modules). Record every mentor you worked with, as you may have more than one. Check it is legible and submit it through the FUSIC portal. You do not send your reports. Your certificate arrives by email.
If things slip
- Running out of time. Apply for an extension at least four weeks before your 12-month window ends, giving your course date, first and last scan dates, number of scans and the reason. Extensions are granted only in exceptional circumstances.
- Parental leave. The Society decides case by case, depending on how many scans you have done and over what timeframe.
- Old course certificate. If your course was more than 12 months ago, the Society may accept a refresher of the online training or an approved course within three years of registration, if you restart your logbook and complete it within a year.
Scans from another accreditation
Scans logged for another accreditation, such as FAMUS, may count towards FUSIC if they meet every FUSIC rule: more than 10 directly supervised by your FUSIC mentor or trainer, all within 12 months, and every scan reviewed by them.
After accreditation
The Society expects you to keep your skills current with regular scanning across a range of pathology, CPD, and audit or multidisciplinary review of your studies. The training packs do not describe a formal reaccreditation cycle. Twelve months after accreditation, with evidence of ongoing scanning, you may apply to become a FUSIC mentor or trainer in that module.
The Society notes that accreditation confirms you met the standard at the point of accreditation. Responsibility for how you use ultrasound afterwards sits with you and your employer, within local governance and your scope of practice.
FUSIC alongside other pathways
- Emergency medicine. RCEM lists FUSIC as complementary learning evidence for PoCUS. It does not replace RCEM sign-off.
- Acute medicine. SAM recommends FUSIC Heart for focused echo, as FAMUS has no cardiac module.
Sources
Checked against these pages and documents on 4 October 2026.
- Intensive Care Society: FUSIC
- FUSIC FAQs
- FUSIC Heart and training pack (2025, v13)
- FUSIC Lung and training pack (2025, v10)
- FUSIC Abdomen and training pack (2025, v11)
- FUSIC DVT and training pack (2026, v1)
- FUSIC Vascular and training pack (2026, v1)
- FUSIC HD and HD summative assessment, November 2025
- Become a FUSIC trainer or mentor