Med-on-@ix: Real-time Tele-Consultation in Emergency Medical Services – Promising or Unnecessary?

The aim of the project Med-on-@ix is to increase the quality of care for emergency patients by the operationalisation of rescue processes. The currently available technologies will be integrated into a new emergency telemedical service system. The aim is to capture all the necessary information comprising electrocardiogram, vital signs, clinical findings, images and necessary personal data of a patient at the emergency scene and transmit this data in real time to a centre of competence. This would enable a “virtual presence” on site of an Emergency Medical Services physician (EMS-physician, the German Notarzt). Thus, we can raise the quality of EMS in total and counter the growing problem of EMS-physician shortage by exploiting the existing medical resources. In addition, this system offers EMS-physicians and paramedics consultation from a centre of competence. Thereby referring to evidence-based medicine and ensuring the earliest possible information of the hospital. Stefan Beckers University Hospital Aachen, Germany, Harold Fischermann University Hospital Aachen, Germany Nadja Frenzel University Hospital Aachen, Germany Tadeusz Brodziak P3 Communications GmbH, Germany Rolf Rossaint University Hospital Aachen, Germany DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60960-469-1.ch012