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OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT01647854

Operation of a Mobile Telemedicine System in the EMS

The aim of the study is to investigate the safety and efficacy of the operation of a prehospital teleconsultation system in the Emergency Medical Service.

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Key information

Conditions

Prehospital Emergency Safety Teleconsultation

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

University Hospital Aachen

Aachen, 52074, Germany

About this study

Six ambulances from five different Emergency Medical Service (EMS) districts are equipped with a portable telemedicine system. The paramedics can use this system to contact a so called "tele-EMS physician" after consent of the patient is obtained. The tele-EMS physician has an audio-connection to the EMS team and receives vital parameters (e.g., ECG, pulse oximetry, non-invasive blood pressure) in real-time. Also 12-lead-ECGs can be transmitted to the tele-EMS physician. The transmission of still pictures - taken with a smartphone - and video streaming from the inside of the ambulance can be carried out, if meaningful. The tele-EMS physician supports the EMS team in obtaining all relevant medical history, ECG diagnosis, general diagnosis and can delegate the application of medications. This can be carried out to bridge the time to the arrival of an EMS physician or in less severe cases without an EMS physician on-scene. The safety and efficacy of the introduction and operation of this system should be evaluated.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • prehospital emergency
  • consent of the patient for teleconsultation was obtained or patient is unable to consent due to the severity of the emergency

Exclusion criteria

  • patient refuses consent for teleconsultation
  • psychiatric emergency

Treatment and study plan

Teleconsultation

Procedure

Teleconsultation in prehospital emergencies

Primary outcomes

  1. Rate of complications

    Time frame: up to 2 hours

    The incidence of complications due to delegated medications should be evaluated.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Time intervals

    Time frame: up to 2 hours

    on-scene time of EMS, contact (EMS) to hospital arrival time

  2. Duration of teleconsultation

    Time frame: up to 2 hours

    Analysis of the time requirement for teleconsultation with respect to the different EMS districts and different emergencies as well as over time.

  3. Requirement of on-scene EMS physician

    Time frame: up to 2 hours

    Analysis of the requirement of an on-scene EMS physician in respect to the different emergencies and districts.

  4. Technical assessments

    Time frame: up to 2 hours

    Analysis of the technical performance of the system

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

RWTH Aachen University

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Introduction and Operation of a Mobile Telemedicine System to Support Paramedics in the Emergency Medical Service

Important dates

Study start
2012
Primary completion
2015
Study completion
2015
First posted
Jul 24, 2012
Registry last updated
Sep 23, 2015

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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