Trauma Care Through Telemedicine

"Trauma Care Through Telemedicine: A Rural Network of Health Services Information in East Tennessee" is a project funded by a grant from the federal government to share information among ambulances, rural emergency departments, and a Level I Trauma Center at the University of Tennessee Medical Center during the "Golden Hour," the initial care of trauma patients in which the proper medical treatment can mean the difference between life and death.

This project will serve seventeen counties in Appalachian Tennessee, building on an existing telemedicine partnership, the University of Tennessee Telemedicine Network, which includes Woods Memorial Hospital, LaFollette Medical Center, Morristown-Hamblin Hospital, and the University of Tennessee Medical Center, Knoxville.

Technologies include: 1) a new method of providing still images from the accident site using digital cameras, computers, and cellular telephones; and 2) two-way consultation between rural physicians and trauma surgeons at the UT Trauma Center using compressed two-way audio/video via T-1 lines.

Emergency departments in the rural hospitals will be equipped with interactive digital audio-video equipment and computers that are linked to the University of Tennessee Telemedicine Network (located at the University of Tennessee Medical Center Trauma Center) by T-1 telecommunication lines. This connection will allow the rural emergency department staff to have "real-time" consultations with specialists at the University of Tennessee Trauma Center. Medical patient information, such as x-rays, cardiograms, and diagnostic laboratory bloodwork, may be digitized and faxed to the trauma center via computers.

Ambulances in the rural counties will be equipped with digital cameras and cellular telephones capable of transmitting digital pictures of accident scenes to the local emergency departments or the UT Trauma Center. Emergency technicians in the ambulances will be trained in the use of the equipment, which will have a two-way effect. By transmitting digital photos of the accident scene to the local emergency departments, preparations can be made to receive and properly treat the accident victim or victims immediately on arrival at the hospital, with consultations done as needed with the UT Trauma Center.

Photos of the accident scene and other digital information about the victims, such as EKGs, will expedite decision-making about whether the patient or patients can be treated locally or sent via Lifestar Helicopter Service to the UT Trauma Center in Knoxville.