[Prehospital point-of-care ultrasound (pPOCUS): "See, decide, act" : Evidence, training concepts, and the role of pPOCUS in the acute assessment of traumatic and nontraumatic emergencies].

BACKGROUND

Prehospital point-of-care ultrasound (pPOCUS) enables focused sonography for immediate management-relevant clinical questions.

OBJECTIVE

To summarize the role of pPOCUS in traumatic and nontraumatic emergencies with regard to evidence, indications, training, and limitations.

RESULTS

pPOCUS may provide clinically relevant adjunctive information in trauma, acute dyspnea, chest pain, undifferentiated shock, resuscitation, and selected procedural settings. Current evidence supports its feasibility and frequent impact on management decisions, whereas robust data on patient-centered outcomes remain limited.

CONCLUSION

The clinical benefit of pPOCUS depends on appropriate indications, integration into team workflows, structured training, documentation, and quality assurance. pPOCUS should be regarded as focused decision support rather than as an exclusionary diagnostic modality.