New initiatives for paramedics

New technology as well as initiatives will improve the work of paramedics immensely in the future. Some examples of which can already be seen today.

To overcome the shortcomings in the emergency system, various solutions and ideas are currently being tested all around the world. Many interesting ones come from America and could soon find their way to Europe.

As an example for new technology, a new “glove” was demonstrated by physicians in the United Kingdom, that can conduct a scan and relay real-time results to a clinician at a hospital. This device itself can be worn by paramedics and its integrated 5G technology could therefore allow to diagnose medical problems more quickly, since it can carry out remote-controlled ultrasound scans already in an ambulance, or at the scene of an accident. The system allows the clinician to move the glove with a joystick and operates over a public 5G network. The glove creates small vibrations to direct the paramedic’s hand to where the clinician wants the ultrasound sensor to be moved. “5G has the potential to help us provide better care, at the patient’s side, and provide increasingly diverse treatment plans for patients,” Craig Cooke, Strategic Operations Director at the West Midlands Ambulance Service, added in a statement.[1]

When it comes to solution development, often paramedics become active themselves, since they know the shortcomings first hand. Two of them have launched a national network of locums called “‘MyMedic Network’”, in a bid to save the NHS time and money sourcing and managing locum clinicians. The online platform uses artificial intelligence to match registered practitioners to placements that match their qualifications, skills and experience, as well as pre-defined criteria set by the locum including preferred locations of work, their day-to-day availability and holidays. Furthermore the software will ensure that compliance documentation is up to date, with all locums’ documentation stored on the platform and reminders issued when compliance renewal dates are nearing. Since signing up to the network, one service provider has saved approximately £1 million in locum management costs in two years, and more than 1,200 admin hours.[2]

As a last example a regional hospital has taken a number of small steps to get patients from the ambulance to the emergency department faster. It teamed up Paramedic services and other hospitals in the region to find ways to reduce the time it takes to offload patients coming to emergency departments by ambulance. The aim is to get the patients off and beginning their journey through the healthcare system as quickly as possible. Despite that, they’ve managed to trim their patient transfer times, moving them from the ambulance and getting them into the care of emergency department staff in less than 15 minutes on average, ten minutes faster than any other hospital in York Region. Going digital has made a significant impact – all is done with computers and that in and of itself has resulted in increased efficiencies. That’s helped remove time it would take to write things down or transfer records to a certain place. That not only does it mean patients get hospital care faster, it also means paramedics are freed up.[3]

References

[1] Rob Picheta (2019): Paramedics could use a 5G-powered ‘robo glove’ to make quicker diagnoses. URL at https://wtop.com/tech/2019/06/paramedics-could-use-a-5g-powered-robo-glove-to-make-quicker-diagnoses/

[2] healthtechdigital.com (2019): Paramedic pair launch locum network in a bid to save the NHS time and money. URL at https://www.healthtechdigital.com/paramedic-pair-launch-locum-network-in-a-bid-to-save-the-nhs-time-and-money/

[3] NewsToronto [2019]: Technology, streamlined procedures getting patients to York hospitals faster. URL at https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/technology-streamlined-procedures-getting-patients-to-york-hospitals-faster-1.4623305