- PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Researchers
are developing technology for ambulances to improve communications and
perhaps more importantly, place virtual doctors inside in transit.
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- Mountains, valleys, bad weather and long distances between
hospitals make communication with emergency room physicians spotty at best
and nonexistent at worst.
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- "It always seems to happen when we've got a critical
patient and you've really got to talk to a doctor," said Jim Effinger,
a paramedic with 23 years experience in rural Pennsylvania.
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- The U.S. Office of Naval Research is funding research
for the First Responder Emergency Communications-Mobile with hopes to one
day apply it to the battlefield.
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- The FREC-M uses an international maritime satellite and
varying frequencies to bridge communication gaps. It has multiple cameras
inside and outside a standard ambulance, which looks like any other, save
for several satellite and GPS domes on top.
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- Aboard the FREC-M, a patient's vital signs and other
data are beamed in real-time to the closest trauma center, where doctors
can not only instruct paramedics in the field, but also prep a room to
treat the critically injured once they arrive.
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- A single FREC-M costs about $250,000, more than three
times the cost of an average ambulance. Mike Shanafelt, a senior adviser
on the project, acknowledges that ambulance companies and hospitals are
not likely to commit until it is proven in the field.
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