Matt Didcoe1
1St John WA, Belmont, Australia
Biography:
Matt is the Clinical Digital Specialist and a Registered Paramedic at St John WA. With a background in computer science and web development Matt is working across the front line to drive technology use that improves patient outcomes and supports team members in delivering high quality, timely pre-hospital care.
Abstract:
Background: Providing remote support to field clinicians, particularly within a volunteer workforce, poses significant challenges. The Clinical Support Paramedic (CSP) stationed in the State Operations Centre (SOC) lacks physical visibility over the patient and must rely solely on vital signs delivered by the field clinician over the phone. Various communication challenges can hinder the accuracy and efficiency of clinical decision-making, potentially contributing to adverse events.
Method: The implementation of mobile data capable defibrillator/monitors within St John WA’s (SJWA) ambulance service enables the live streaming of telemetry data directly to the CSP in the SOC. This functionality allows for real-time visualisation of vital signs, including ECG (single lead and any 12-leads performed), blood pressure, pulse oximetry plethysmography, end-tidal CO2 monitoring, and respiratory rate. Moreover, the device can transmit a live view of parameters while in defibrillator mode, enabling remote support and providing a virtual “presence” of CSPs at out-of-hospital cardiac arrest scenes, in regional Western Australia. This capability enhances decision-making processes and optimises treatment strategies.
Results: Feedback from volunteer and early career clinicians, as well as CSPs has been overwhelmingly positive. The availability and richness of additional telemetry data points, coupled with visualisations of patient responses to treatment in real-time enhances the efficacy of the telephone support model.
Conclusion: Given the positive feedback and integration of live telemetry, SJWA’s next endeavour involves sourcing a video conferencing platform which integrates rich telemetry data with live video feeds from the scene. This advancement will significantly enhance remote clinical support capabilities.