What do you all think about making ultrasound guided central venous and arterial line placement a new standard of care? I have been placing PICC lines, central lines, and arterial lines for the last year now and I use the ultrasound whenever I am placing lines in vessels that I cannot see. Now, I know that people take great pride in blind sticking when placing lines but at what cost to the patient? Now, I don't use the ultrasound because I have no idea of where the vessels are located. I use it because I think that if the child I am placing a line on were my child, I would want several things: minimal pain, minimal procedure time, and minimal risk of injury. I have personally seen ischemic limbs, huge hematomas, and thrombus formation from damage to vessels. I have stories of central lines being placed through the arteries and into the veins as well. Some people argue that if we use an ultrasound to place lines, they will be "rusty" when the time comes to place a line and either the ultrasound doesn't work, or there is not enough time to prepare it for use. I disagree with this line of thinking because if you use the ultrasound, you will gain a greater understanding of the anatomy of the vessels under the skin and also how different each person can be. From a humane perspective, I believe that it is cruel to stick a person, (and in my case,kids), over and over again because you refuse to employ the technology that is often available to you. Now, here's the question, do you think that it should be standard of care to utilize ultrasound every time you can to place lines in a patient? Keep in mind that one day you, your son, wife, or daughter may need one.