SAN ANTONIO, TX – The first-aid kit and stretcher are getting an upgrade, thanks to GlobalMedia.
The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based developer of telemedicine solutions unveiled a series of new or enhanced products at the American Telemedicine Association’s 15th Annual International Meeting and Exposition, all designed to improve the delivery of healthcare in “field” situations like battlegrounds, accident scenes, remote locations, or even schools or prisons.
“In situations like these, you don’t want technology to get in the way” of delivering healthcare, said Joel E. Barthelemy, the company’s managing director. “We’re covering any base we can with connectivity.”
At the ATA conference, held May 16-18 in San Antonio, Texas, GlobalMedia took the wraps off a new version of its TransportAV system, a stretcher-mounted solution designed to link the caregiver at the scene to a hospital or specialists at other sites. The system features a touchscreen PC, 3G/4G aircard, controllable camera, echo-cancelling microphone, ClearSteth stethoscope, TotalExam examination camera and Bluetooth wireless keyboard with headset.
Barthelemy said the TransportAV was originally designed with input from the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, which wanted to provide a better link between first-responders and specialists at the hospital in emergency situations involving children. The latest design, he said, features fewer attachments and an increased battery life, is more weather-resistant and is 25 percent lighter.
The company also unveiled the FirstAV camera/tablet combo, a wireless, medical-grade tablet computer packaged with the TotalExam S-Video camera. Designed with the military in mind, the unit provides real-time images and communications services for medical triage situations. Among the features is a camera that can be detached and used for closer medical examinations down to 2 centimeters away, data storage in the tablet and a built-in GPS.
To provide connectivity from the field to the hospital, GlobalMedia unveiled its soon-to-be-released CONI (CapSure Over Network interface) Server, designed to allow real-time integration with an electronic medical record. According to company officials, the CONi Server has been validated for use with the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) PACS servers. Company officials also announced that 70 CONI-capable carts will be delivered to the VA’s Rocky Mountain area VISN 19 (Veterans Integrated Service Network) and carts previously delivered to the network would be retrofitted with the new CONI system.
“We can use the carts to perform a wide variety of services, ranging from pre-surgical evaluations to post-surgical follow-up," said Jeff Lowe, care coordination telehealth manager for the VA’s VISN 19. "Quite simply, the system allows doctors to provide patient services that they otherwise would be unable to. The carts’ cameras provide patients with face-to-face interaction with physicians, which, in many non-critical cases, eliminates the need for long-distance travel for face-to-face evaluation.”
