Telemedicine in pre-hospital emergency care: literature review and implementation of a pilot project

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Gustavo Penna

Abstract

The incorporation of telemedicine in emergency medical system is expanding, with successful results in several countries. The objective is to analyze the opinion of experts about using of telemedicine tools in emergency medicine and to evaluate their technical viability in the pre-hospital care in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Design: Application of a questionnaire to 40 specialists in emergency medicine from different countries. Assessment of average time of sending, processing and receiving 12-lead EKG data transmission via 3G from different regions of the city. Prospective analysis of telemedicine use in 14 pre-hospital care situ-ations. There was heterogeneity in responses and a large number of unanswered questions by the experts. All regions of the city have shown good technical feasibility in data transmission, with data transmission maximum time of 56 seconds. Similarity between average and mode of analyzed values highlights the homogeneity of the mobile internet coverage. The questionnaire was considered reliable by analyzing the consistency of answers. The experts’ feedback heterogeneity may reflect the innovative character of telemedicine. However, there were not positions contrary to the implementation of tele-urgency and tests showed technical viability of this resource in this city. This pilot project testified the viability of telemedicine in the emergency medical system in Belo Horizonte and preceded other initiatives in this field.

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