Knowledgebase for Prehospital video

PICTA has buildt a knowledgebase for Prehospital video. A collection of reseach and articles on this subject.
During the summer of 2022, a knowledge base within the PreViS-project was created. The function of the knowledge base is to work as a forum for anyone who wants to learn more of how video technology can be used within the prehospital emergency care, especially in ambulances. The goal of this is to create a platform that collects all the research, the articles and the knowledge that is available today to enable future innovation and development.
To find relevant articles a systematic review has been done of the following communication channels: research databases, clinical trials, newspapers, EMS magazines, social media, websites and other articles. Based on these communication channels relevant articles, video clips and posts have been categorized and then divided into subcategories to make it easier to navigate among the articles. Beyond this, articles have been given tags as another way for the users of the knowledge base to find what they are looking for. The search scope reaches from the year 2000 until today and the articles therefore present the development during the past 20 years.
What has this systematic review taught us then? Well, the largest amount of relevant articles is found in research databases and EMS magazines. Furthermore, social media also contributes with another dimension to the subject. In several Youtube clips, viewers get to see moving pictures of how video technology can be used in ambulances and see how this actually has been implemented in different projects all over the world. One area that stands out and that is found within research articles and clinical trials as well as in projects and posts on LinkedIn is telestroke, that is how you can diagnose patients with the help of telemedicine in the ambulance already. The primary focus is that ambulance staff can communicate with a neurologist to make an assessment early and in this way transport the patient to the hospital where the treatment that is necessary for the patient can be done. For a person who suffers from a stroke every second counts and therefore the potential for development is huge within this area.
Other areas where some research has been done, where video communication can constitute an advantage, are for trauma patients and patients with heart diseases. What patients with these conditions have in common are that video technology could enable the ambulance staff to get guidance from specialists, the doctors at the hospital can assess the patient earlier and prepare for what needs to be done when the patient arrives to the hospital as well as this consultation can help with directing the patients to the correct level of health facility. The overall goal of this is to give equal care to everyone no matter where you live.
Many of the research articles describe pilot studies where it has been investigated if video communication between an ambulance and a hospital is feasible and effective regarding resources, costs and technology. Even though many research studies have reached the conclusion that it would work and be a great resource, there are few studies that have been taken to the next step of implementation in the real world. Although, there are a few projects that have gone past the first phase and onto the testing of the video technology, the ViPHS project in Sweden and the PreSSUB project in Belgium are two of them. Germany, USA, Great Britain, Denmark and Norway are together with Sweden and Belgium the countries that have driven the most studies within the area. Another recurrent question that has been researched is if the technology that is available today is safe and reliable. The question of if today's broadband is fast enough and reliable in the rural parts of the world has above all been asked, together with how you can handle the high data rates that video consultation demands.
Another scope of video technology within the prehospital emergency care is the use of video for emergency calls and the use of body-worn cameras. Many articles describe the first as a great possibility for a person who’s hurt or for people who see an accident. This works as a very good support for the emergency medical dispatcher who can send the right resources to the scene of the accident. Some articles also describe how this video call can be transferred to the ambulance enabling them to see the severity of the accident before they arrive at the scene. This is made possible through new apps such as GoodSAM. There are also several companies that provide equipment specifically for video communication from the ambulance telling us that there is a demand. Body-worn cameras on the other hand are described to have two purposes besides enabling live video streaming to the hospital. It can serve as a safety precaution for the ambulance staff since there is evidence of what has happened in the ambulance in case of false allegations. The other thing is that you can review situations after it has happened to see how things worked and to learn and do better the next time.
To summarize, the result from this systematic review has given us that video within the prehospital emergency care has great opportunities to develop and get implemented to a greater extent. All studies indicate that the technology is already here so now we just have to make it reality, not just in a little town in England or Sweden but everywhere. A few articles mention the possibilities of 5G and 3D-video-technology that only will be able to develop and improve video communication between an ambulance and a hospital. Our hope is that this knowledge base will contribute to, in the future, taking advantage of the knowledge that we already have within this area to continue building on all the research that has already been made to make sure that everyone gets to experience the advantages of video technology in ambulances.
During the summer of 2022, a knowledge base within the PreViS-project was created. The function of the knowledge base is to work as a forum for anyone who wants to learn more of how video technology can be used within the prehospital emergency care, especially in ambulances. The goal of this is to create a platform that collects all the research, the articles and the knowledge that is available today to enable future innovation and development.
To find relevant articles a systematic review has been done of the following communication channels: research databases, clinical trials, newspapers, EMS magazines, social media, websites and other articles. Based on these communication channels relevant articles, video clips and posts have been categorized and then divided into subcategories to make it easier to navigate among the articles. Beyond this, articles have been given tags as another way for the users of the knowledge base to find what they are looking for. The search scope reaches from the year 2000 until today and the articles therefore present the development during the past 20 years.
What has this systematic review taught us then? Well, the largest amount of relevant articles is found in research databases and EMS magazines. Furthermore, social media also contributes with another dimension to the subject. In several Youtube clips, viewers get to see moving pictures of how video technology can be used in ambulances and see how this actually has been implemented in different projects all over the world. One area that stands out and that is found within research articles and clinical trials as well as in projects and posts on LinkedIn is telestroke, that is how you can diagnose patients with the help of telemedicine in the ambulance already. The primary focus is that ambulance staff can communicate with a neurologist to make an assessment early and in this way transport the patient to the hospital where the treatment that is necessary for the patient can be done. For a person who suffers from a stroke every second counts and therefore the potential for development is huge within this area.
Other areas where some research has been done, where video communication can constitute an advantage, are for trauma patients and patients with heart diseases. What patients with these conditions have in common are that video technology could enable the ambulance staff to get guidance from specialists, the doctors at the hospital can assess the patient earlier and prepare for what needs to be done when the patient arrives to the hospital as well as this consultation can help with directing the patients to the correct level of health facility. The overall goal of this is to give equal care to everyone no matter where you live.
Many of the research articles describe pilot studies where it has been investigated if video communication between an ambulance and a hospital is feasible and effective regarding resources, costs and technology. Even though many research studies have reached the conclusion that it would work and be a great resource, there are few studies that have been taken to the next step of implementation in the real world. Although, there are a few projects that have gone past the first phase and onto the testing of the video technology, the ViPHS project in Sweden and the PreSSUB project in Belgium are two of them. Germany, USA, Great Britain, Denmark and Norway are together with Sweden and Belgium the countries that have driven the most studies within the area. Another recurrent question that has been researched is if the technology that is available today is safe and reliable. The question of if today's broadband is fast enough and reliable in the rural parts of the world has above all been asked, together with how you can handle the high data rates that video consultation demands.
Another scope of video technology within the prehospital emergency care is the use of video for emergency calls and the use of body-worn cameras. Many articles describe the first as a great possibility for a person who’s hurt or for people who see an accident. This works as a very good support for the emergency medical dispatcher who can send the right resources to the scene of the accident. Some articles also describe how this video call can be transferred to the ambulance enabling them to see the severity of the accident before they arrive at the scene. This is made possible through new apps such as GoodSAM. There are also several companies that provide equipment specifically for video communication from the ambulance telling us that there is a demand. Body-worn cameras on the other hand are described to have two purposes besides enabling live video streaming to the hospital. It can serve as a safety precaution for the ambulance staff since there is evidence of what has happened in the ambulance in case of false allegations. The other thing is that you can review situations after it has happened to see how things worked and to learn and do better the next time.
To summarize, the result from this systematic review has given us that video within the prehospital emergency care has great opportunities to develop and get implemented to a greater extent. All studies indicate that the technology is already here so now we just have to make it reality, not just in a little town in England or Sweden but everywhere. A few articles mention the possibilities of 5G and 3D-video-technology that only will be able to develop and improve video communication between an ambulance and a hospital. Our hope is that this knowledge base will contribute to, in the future, taking advantage of the knowledge that we already have within this area to continue building on all the research that has already been made to make sure that everyone gets to experience the advantages of video technology in ambulances.