Abstract
Prehospital emergency medicine treats time-critical diseases at the emergency site to reduce preventable disabilities and deaths. mHealth can assist in prehospital emergency medicine in multiple ways. This chapter provides insights into emergency medicine and presents three different forms of mHealth in this field. One is a retrieval of medical data (e.g., with aid of smartphone applications). A second one uses unmanned aerial vehicles. And the third one establishes real time communication with medical experts. Examples are given to illustrate the variety of mHealth in prehospital emergency medicine.
TopBackground
Prehospital Emergency Medicine
Prehospital emergency medicine summarizes all efforts made by medical professionals to treat acute illnesses, life-threatening conditions and pain at the emergency site and to transport the patient – if needed – to a hospital. Prehospital emergency medicine varies between countries (Callese et al., 2015; Roudsari et al., 2007). Most developed countries have an advanced life support system, which can be divided into the Anglo-American model and the Franco-German model. In the Anglo-American model, the prehospital emergency medicine is provided by paramedics (Wandling, Nathens, Shapiro, & Haut, 2016). The Franco-German model is similar to the Anglo-American model but differs in life-threatening conditions (Al-Shaqsi, 2010). The Franco-German model dispatches paramedics and additively dispatches emergency physicians in life-threatening conditions (Dick, 2003).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Stroke: Acute lack of oxygen in brain cells, caused by either bleeding or blockage of an artery. A stroke can lead to massive disability or even death.
Myocardial Infarction: Acute blockage of a coronary artery, stopping the blood flow to the heart muscle. This leads to severe damage to the heart and can result in cardiac arrest and death.
Trauma: Accidents, for example traffic accidents, leading to injuries. Severe accidents can result in massive bleeding, organ failure, and death.
Emergency Doctor: A doctor with special training in emergency medicine. In the Anglo-American model, the emergency doctor treats the patients in the emergency department of a hospital. In the Franco-German model, emergency doctors start the treatment of patients with (potentially) life-threatening conditions already at the emergency site.
Prehospital Emergency Medicine: All efforts made by medical professionals to treat acute illnesses, life-threatening conditions and pain at the emergency site and to transport the patient—if needed—to a hospital.
Paramedic: Paramedics receive a one- to three-year education in handling emergency situations and are the basis of prehospital emergency systems worldwide.
Medical Simulation Center: Creates dynamic, realistic routine or emergency scenarios with computer-operated mannequins to learn or examine procedures without putting patients at risk.