Potential and effectiveness of a telemedical rescue assistance system. Prospective observational study on implementation in emergency medicine

The demographic change and an increasing multimorbidity of patients represent increasing challenges for the adequate prehospital treatment of emergency patients. The incorporation of supplementary telemedical concepts and systems can lead to an improved guideline-conform treatment. Beneficial evidence of telemedical procedures is only known for isolated disease patterns; however, no mobile telemedical concept exists which is suitable for use in the wide variety of different clinical situations. This article presents a newly developed and evaluated total telemedical concept (TemRas) that encompasses organizational, medical and technical components. The use of intelligent and robust communication technology and the implementation of this add-on system allows the telemedical support of the rescue service for all emergencies. After development of the telemedical rescue assistance system, which includes organizational, medical and technical components, a telemedical centre and six ambulances in five different districts in North-Rhine Westphalia were equipped with this new tool. During the evaluation phase of 1 year in the routine emergency medical service the rate of complications as well as differences between urban and rural areas were analyzed with respect to different target parameters. Between August 2012 and July 2013 a total of 401 teleconsultations were performed during emergency missions and 24 during secondary interhospital transfers. No complications due to teleconsultation were observed. The mean duration (+/- SD) of teleconsultations was longer in rural areas than in urban areas with 28.6 +/- 12.0 min vs. 25.5 +/- 11.1 min (p < 0.0001). In 63.2 % of these missions administration of medications was delegated to the ambulance personnel (52.0 % urban vs. 73.6 % rural, p < 0.0001). The severity of ailments corresponded to scores of III and VI in the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) classification. Emergency medical care of patients with support by a telemedical system is technically feasible, safe for the patient and allows medical treatment independent of spatial availability of a physician in different emergency situations.