Model curriculum for teaching emergency ultrasound was published in 1994. In 1999, ACEP’s Emergency Ultrasound Section introduced the AMA House of Delegates Resolution 802 that explicitly stated that specialty-specific guidelines could be used to inform credentialing decisions for clinical ultrasound.

In 2001, ACEP produced specialty-specific guidelines for emergency ultrasound that were lauded as groundbreaking. In 2003, ACEP set guidelines for ultrasound fellowships. In 2006, ACEP updated these guidelines and produced imaging criteria for each established application of emergency ultrasound.

ACEP has collaborated with the Council of Residency Directors of Emergency Medicine (CORD), Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM), the Residency Review Committee for Emergency Medicine (RRC-EM) and the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) to agree on residency training guidelines that will be part of the upcoming 2009 updates to practice guidelines.

ACEP continues to be proactive both in self-regulation and on advancing the use of emergency ultrasound into new applications that will further enhance patient care and positive outcomes. New guidelines will be issued this year. Under the Board’s leadership, the next step in ACEP’s evolution is accreditation.