Application of u-Health to Emergency Medical Service System

Article information

J Korean Med Assoc. 2009;52(12):1148-1153

Publication date (electronic) : 2009 December 31

doi : https://doi.org/10.5124/jkma.2009.52.12.1148

Department of Emergency Medicine, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Korea. ed119@yonsei.ac.kr

Abstract

Recent advances in information and telecommunication technology make u-health strategies possible in Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system. The u-Health can offer advanced life support, medical oversight to the emergency medical technician, quality improvement in EMS, and hazard management. The aim of this study is to provide comprehensive review, and to discuss the role and problems of the u-Health used in EMS system. The efficient operation of EMS system is contingent upon the quality management of both the working systems and underlying communication infrastructures of u-health. The u-Health services for EMS requires assessment skill, IT technology and organization of all systems. The u-Health raises the level of a medical control and treatment to a much higher degree in pre-hospital setting and also tends to decrease mortality. By utilizing u-Health system, the patient's data collected from ambulances transfer simultaneously to a central emergency medical information center (EMIC) and hospitals. Medical director delivers medical oversight to the paramedics in the ambulance, and also transmits the information to a doctor at ER before arriving to the hospital. The transmitted data contains the patient's information, vital signs (blood pressure, pulse rate, respiration rate, and temperature), ECG, pulse oxymetry, a moving picture and information at the point of care administration. For a successful integration of u-Health to EMS system, information technologies, assessment technologies, telecommunications, and legal remedy are needed. Especially, advance in assessment technologies offer the possibility of small size, but also of intelligent, active devices that are wireless and non-invasive or minimally-invasive. u-Health will benefit the patients by advanced life support in pre-hospital and emergency department settings. It will help decrease the cost associated with the hospital, mortality, and morbidity.

Keywords: Emergency medical service system; u-Health; Telemedicine

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Figure 1

The flow of medical oversight by using of real time telemetry in emergency medical service system.