In a world first, Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex (AAKSS) can now live stream patient data directly from the helicopter to the hospital it’s heading to and to its consultants wherever they are, thanks to a partnership with health technology leaders Philips RDT.
The charity’s medical team is the first Helicopter Emergency Service (HEMS) in the world to be equipped with the Philips RDT Tempus ALS and Philips IntelliSpace Corsium web-based software platform, developed in conjunction with the European Space Agency.
The collaboration allows doctors and paramedics to transmit Electrocardiogram (ECG), body temperature, heart rhythm, pulse and respiration rate and blood pressure – from the scene to the receiving hospital, as well as the on-call air ambulance consultant back at base.
Professor Richard Lyon, Associate Medical Director of AAKSS, said: “In emergency situations where every second counts, having the ability to live stream a patient’s vitals from the scene of an incident on the ground or in the air – offers a tremendous opportunity for our team to improve the outcomes for our patients.
“This collaboration with Philips RDT allows our consultants to give better remote medical advice to the receiving hospital so they can be better prepared for the patient’s arrival. As a charity that continually strives to improve patient care through innovation, we are excited to be working with Philips RDT and see the positive benefit this novel technology will bring.”
AAKSS attends nearly 2,500 life-saving missions a year, many requiring urgent transfer of patients from across Kent, Sussex and Surrey to major trauma centres in London, Brighton and Southampton.
David Welch, Chief Executive of AAKSS, added: “This collaboration strengthens our position as a world-leading service bringing the most sophisticated technology to support the highly skilled medical teams we deploy across Kent, Surrey and Sussex.
“This will have a very significant impact in helping us to save lives and improve patient outcomes across the south east. With us demonstrating its application in a real-life situation, we are confident the technology will be adopted by other air ambulances and partners in the health service.”
