Hi Don:  I've only seen one tech (he worked for me for a short while a year
or so ago, and was one of those I was glad to have leave.)  He scanned
sitting adjacent to the patient, and leaned across the patient's chest, or
breast, depending on the gender of the patient, and I repeatedly received
complaints about his technique (too much pressure, painful pressure, a bit
too intimate, too much pressure on the neck, etc.).  I don't know where he
is, now, but we were on the verge of letting him go before he resigned (for
unrelated reasons...he started the job saying call did not bother him in
the least, and then all he did was complain about it).  Incidentally, he
sat to the patient's right and faced their head, starting the exam on the
left side of the neck.  I don't want to clutter up the Flownet, either, but
am interested in the answers you'll get.  I personally feel one cannot
adequately and completely assess the subclavians, vertebrals, and possibly
ophthalmics, and superficial temporals in any other but the  position we
were taught (The one I taught you, you recall.)  BTW, how ARE you?  Hi to
all at your fine establishment, and good luck.  I hope you'll receive your
answers in this format.

Shirley McLean, RVT
San Marcos, CA
> From: Don Ridgway <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Scanning positions
> Date: Sunday, September 12, 1999 7:24 PM
>
> This isn't what you'd call Earth-shaking, but there's a bit of a bet:
>
> What position are people taking relative to the patient when scanning
> carotids? I'm still of the old school, sitting behind the patient's head.
> Another tech tells me nobody scans like that any more; he stands at the
> patient's side, facing the patient, much as one would doing an abdominal
> scan but a bit farther toward the head.
>
> Could I ask for a bit of a survey? There's a lunch riding on this. You
can
> reply straight to me so as not to clutter the Flownet up severely:
>
> [log in to unmask]
>
> Thanks a ton.
>
> Don Ridgway
> Grossmont Hospital
> Grossmont College