About our Ultrasound Guided Cannulation course

Why should I get trained in US Guided vascular access?

Many clinicians struggle with difficult cannulations. Sometimes a needle tap might be lost, cannulas keep tissuing or can’t advance despite flashback. Ultrasound can help avoid all these issues.

Ultrasound-guided vascular access allows you to safely insert an intravenous cannula, even when you need to deal with non-visible or non-palpable veins. It reduces the number of punctures and potential complications compared to a blind technique.

We’ve been teaching clinicians how to do ultrasound-guided vascular access on our Core Emergency Ultrasound course for many years. This Ultrasound-Guided Cannulation course extends that experience to incorporate a wider range of clinicians.

Who can take this vascular access training?

This course is aimed at clinicians who want to further develop their cannulation skills. This includes:

• Doctors (from FY1 to consultant)
• Advanced Clinical Practitioners
• Nurses
• Phlebotomists
• Paramedics
• Senior medical students
• Health-care assistants
• Veterinary specialists

No prior ultrasound experience required. The only pre-course requirement is that you should be working in a service where you are regularly involved in cannulation.

What does the USG cannulation course cover?

Topics covered include:

• Ultrasound as an imaging modality
• Identification of vascular structures
• Upper limb anatomy
• Ultrasound-guided cannulation

You will have the opportunity to practice on a variety of ultrasound machines and hand-held devices. Our facilitators will help you to scan a variety of neck, torso, and upper limb anatomy to gain familiarity with ultrasound.

You will be given your own vascular access model to continue practicing after the course.