Operation of a Mobile Telemedicine System in the EMS

RWTH Aachen University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Prehospital Emergency; Safety; Teleconsultation

Treatments: Procedure: Teleconsultation

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT01647854

PtJ-Az.: z0909im002b (Other Grant/Funding Number)

005-1003-0034-5

Details and patient eligibility

About

The aim of the study is to investigate the safety and efficacy of the operation of a prehospital teleconsultation system in the Emergency Medical Service.

Full description

Six ambulances from five different Emergency Medical Service (EMS) districts are equipped with a portable telemedicine system. The paramedics can use this system to contact a so called "tele-EMS physician" after consent of the patient is obtained. The tele-EMS physician has an audio-connection to the EMS team and receives vital parameters (e.g., ECG, pulse oximetry, non-invasive blood pressure) in real-time. Also 12-lead-ECGs can be transmitted to the tele-EMS physician. The transmission of still pictures - taken with a smartphone - and video streaming from the inside of the ambulance can be carried out, if meaningful. The tele-EMS physician supports the EMS team in obtaining all relevant medical history, ECG diagnosis, general diagnosis and can delegate the application of medications. This can be carried out to bridge the time to the arrival of an EMS physician or in less severe cases without an EMS physician on-scene. The safety and efficacy of the introduction and operation of this system should be evaluated.

Enrollment: 425 patients

Sex: All

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• prehospital emergency
• consent of the patient for teleconsultation was obtained or patient is unable to consent due to the severity of the emergency

Exclusion criteria

• patient refuses consent for teleconsultation
• psychiatric emergency

Trial design

Primary purpose: Health Services Research

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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425 participants in 1 patient group

Device: Teleconsultation

Experimental group

Description:

If patients give informed consent the paramedics can use this system to contact a so called "tele-EMS physician" with an audio-connection to the EMS team who receives vital parameters (e.g., ECG, pulse oximetry, non-invasive blood pressure) in real-time. Also 12-lead-ECGs can be transmitted to the tele-EMS physician. The transmission of still pictures - taken with a smartphone - and video streaming from the inside of the ambulance can be carried out, if meaningful. The tele-EMS physician supports the EMS team in obtaining all relevant medical history, ECG diagnosis, general diagnosis and can delegate the application of medications. This can be carried out to bridge the time to the arrival of an EMS physician or in less severe cases without an EMS physician on-scene. The safety and efficacy of the introduction and operation of this system should be evaluated.

Treatment:

Procedure: Teleconsultation