Bedside ultrasound in pediatric practice.

July 1, 2002. Overnight shift in the pediatric emergency department. In 1 room, the fellow is attempting to place a central venous catheter in a 5-year-old boy with presumed septic shock but has been unable to locate the femoral vein with her finder needle. In the next room lies a 7year-old trauma patient. He is tachycardic with poor perfusion and abrasions on his chest. The team calls for a portable chest radiograph and begins a secondary survey. The resident taps your shoulder. “Can I present a patient?” He describes a 15-year-old girl with lupus complaining of chest pain who is ill appearing, tachycardic, and short of breath. “I ordered labs and chest radiograph.”