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TeleAmbulance - Hard and software re-configurationThe hardware structure of the mobile workstation supposed to be installed in the ambulance, consists of a notebook computer equipped with a PCMCIA port and a serial port on the one hand and a pocketline Darwin Plus GSM handset and a PCMCIA card on the other hand. This communication device replaces the Ericsson radiomodem communication facilities used in the first generation TeleAmbulance workstation. The notebook is linked to the digital Hellige Monitor SMP for the direct acquisition of the patient’s physiological data, particularly the ECG wave form, the saturation (pulse oximetry), the pulse and the heart rates, as well as the blood pressure. Both the notebook and the said physiological monitor are battery packed and can be easily charged in preparation for field operations. The server hospital workstation consists of a desktop computer equipped with a standard modem for data transmission via the public telephone network from and to the outside world. The Teleambulance resident software which operates within the windows operating environment, is now supported by a dedicated home-made communication module, which has been developed to replace the existing commercial one. This LBMI home-made module, which is based on the standard Hayes command set is integrated in both the client and the server teleambulance software packages. With configured operating instructions, including the transmission rate, each of the workstations communicates with the other on the same level. Following the transfer of the desired data, the line is disconnected to avoid excessive and unnecessary use of the air-borne data communication network. The special-purpose monitor module, which has a data acquisition ( from the physiological monitor) and transmission frequency dialogue box provides possibilities of manual as well as automatic data transmission. One can choose between sending the most recent data set and the accumulated data set since the last transmission. When the automatic data transmission option is initiated, the built-in timer takes over control, including dialling, connecting and disconnecting. The Emergency Form module consists of patient personal information, incidence and pre-treatment report, journey report and the crew textual remarks. The graphical as well as picture modules are also newly included. These allow the transmission of pictures, e.g. head injuries, physical deformation and/or pictures of the scence of incidence. More still, instructive graphical images can be forwarded from the hospital to the ambulance paramedical crew, regarding the treatment of some particular patients with physical damages. The resident software in the hospital (host) workstation consists of a display and a database units for archiving and retrieving patients information. On arrival at the hospital gate, the operating crew member forwards a (pressbutton) closing instruction to the server, which in turns empties the buffer in question into the hospital database system.
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