Thanks to an advanced mobile telemedicine app, ambulances can now instantly send onsite medical reports to hospitals for time-critical treatments.

If someone might be having a heart attack, triage and timing are critical. That’s especially true for a more severe attack called ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI), which account for about a third of all heart attacks in the US. With STEMI the heart is not receiving blood — and that can be fatal if not addressed quickly. Every heartbeat and second counts.

The largest fire department in the US, FDNY became famous worldwide for their bravery after New York’s 9-11 attacks. But in the years before and after that, the FDNY has also saved thousands of lives daily. These are not only fire victims, but also people suffering other emergencies, including STEMI heart attacks. In fact each year, FDNY teams respond to more than 1.4 million medical emergencies.

Mobile telemedicine app comes to the rescue

The FDNY had long needed a faster way to help treat STEMI victims. After some research, the department turned to General Devices’ e-Bridge Mobile Telemedicine app, which lets them share Electrocardiograms (ECG) from any monitor or device on site, directly to hospital teams.

The 12-lead ECG is key in diagnosing STEMI cases. In the field, an FDNY paramedic quickly obtains a patient’s 12-lead ECG and enters that into GD’s e-Bridge app. Then, the app can securely transmit the report directly to a physician at the agency’s Telemetry Center in Woodside Queens, where a physician reviews the 12-lead ECG and consults with a medic.

Pre-arrival reports = better hospital care

Paramedic and EMS teams can use these treatment protocols to initiate advanced life support and provide advance notice to the receiving hospital’s Emergency Department, cardiac catheterization, and cardiology teams. This pre-arrival notification is vital for patients experiencing time-sensitive acute care cases like heart attacks. Minutes make all the difference.

Hospital teams use this information to make advance preparations for patient arrivals, such as preparing the lab, bed assignments, equipment, and personnel. This streamlines the workflow to reduce time-to-treatment and restore critical blood flow to vital organs.

Besides capturing and sending 12-lead reports, GD’s e-Bridge also comes with other advanced capabilities. The mobile telemedicine app can also connect EMS and hospital staff to any other medical teams with HIPAA-secure voice. And in addition to alert notifications, e-Bridge can also send photos, vitals, monitor data, tracking data, and streamlined video.

A powerful model for EMS teams

Fire Departments are becoming a vital player in delivering healthcare. And now with newly available programs like ET3 (Emergency Triage, Treat, and Transport), plus improved bandwidth in the FirstNet national public safety network, fire departments can also provide a better program model for EMS.

With a mobile telemedicine app now in their workflows, FDNY Fire-EMS teams are connecting to the ED to reduce risk and costs while ensuring the best medical care. Telemedicine is the future, and the FDNY has already embraced it.

GD’s e-Bridge Interpreter is a Best of 2019 Mobile Star Awards Winner for “Innovative Mobile Medical App” and GD is also a Spring 2020 Nominee for “Mobile Healthcare Success Story”. You can connect with and follow General Devices below:

2020 Mobile Star Awards Winner:

Mobile Healthcare Success Story — FDNY using GD e-Bridge

2019 Mobile Star Awards Winner:

Innovative Mobile Medical App — GD e-Bridge Interpreter

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General Devices
1000 River St.
Ridgefield, NJ 07657
Tel: (+1) 201-313-7075
general-devices.com

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Private Company, founded 1979

Contacts:
Curt Bashford, CEO, cbashford [at] general-devices.com
Andrew Birnbaum, Marketing Dir., abirnbaum [at] general-devices.com
Alessia Fiorello, Marcom Manager, afiorello [at] general-devices.com
Nicole LeClarie, Marketing Coordinator, nleclaire [at] general-devices.com

Specialties:
Ambulance Telemedicine Devices, EMS Interpreter, HIPAA Compliant Secure Communication, Medical Devices, mHealth, Mobile Integrated Healthcare, Mobile Telemedicine, Pre-Hospital Communications, Public Safety Communications, Secure Notifications, Telehealth

Platforms Supported:
All Web Browsers, Android, Android Wear, Apple watchOS, iOS, Windows