Close for Health: technological innovation to support emergency and urgent service in the Valle Serchio district area in Garfagnana and the Media Valle. Thanks to a "helmet", real-time communication between rescuers and doctors
From February 15 begins the experimentation involving rescue teams and volunteers from the Valle del Serchio, doctors, nurses and other operators thanks to the technology perfected by a research team from the Sant'Anna School, coordinated by Piero Castoldi
With the delivery of the initial five helmets of the interactive REC-VISIO 118 system, from February 15, the experimentation of the "tele-emergency" system in the 118 emergency and urgent care service in Garfagnana and Media Valle district area of Tuscany begins, thanks to technologies that allow remote medical support, perfected by the research team coordinated by Piero Castoldi, professor of Telecommunications and director of the TeCIP (Technologies of Communication, Information, Photonics) Institute of the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, as part of the "P4 - Tele Emergency" line of Proximity Care. The latter is the multi-year project implemented by the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies of Pisa, with the financial support of Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca and the involvement of the Regione Toscana, Asl Toscana Nord Ovest, 23 municipalities in the inland areas of the province of Lucca, and third sector institutions. Participating as technical partners are the Fondazione Monasterio, the Maria Eletta Martini Research Center of Lucca, ISPRO (Istituto Prevenzione e Ricerca Oncologica) of Florence.
The experimental phase of the use, in daily reality, of the REC-VISIO 118 interactive system is now starting thanks to the collaboration with the Emergency Urgency area of the Azienda USL Toscana nord ovest, of which Dr. Andrea Nicolini is in charge, with the 118 Operations Center "Alta Toscana" based at the Versilia hospital in Lido di Camaiore (Lucca).
EXPERIMENTATION. From, for at least 18 months, rescue teams in the Valle del Serchio district area will use the helmets in ordinary activities, in conjunction with operators of the 118 Operations Center. Volunteers and operators have been trained in the past few weeks on how to use the interactive REC-VISIO 118 system, the operation tests of which have been successful. The trial will be monitored throughout its duration by the research team of the Proximity Care project in order to evaluate the results and develop further features to make this system increasingly responsive to the needs of operators engaged in rescue in inland areas.
HOW IT WORKS. The REC-VISIO 118 interactive system consists of a helmet that can be worn by operators (nurses and volunteers, in particular) at the scene of the intervention, equipped with a video camera that allows the video testifying to the patient's status to be sent to the 118 Operations Center, where the doctor can view it thanks to an application and can interact with the rescuer through two-way audio, that is, allowing them to listen and speak simultaneously, avoiding waiting time. In this way, the doctor at the 118 Operations Center acts as if he or she were at the scene of the intervention.
