Telemedicine and emerging telecommunications

Emergency medical services has been a leader in telemedicine and telehealth for nearly 50 years since pioneering the use of radio and ECG telemetry to connect with physicians in hospitals from a distance. This chapter describes many applications of teleconsultation, telemonitoring, and telementoring where telemedicine connectivity is affecting the treatment of emergency conditions such as myocardial infarction, stroke, and trauma in the prehospital setting. The explosion of hand-held tablet computers and smartphones has spurred the development of a telecommunications infrastructure including 4G LTE cellular that promises remarkable ease of video and data access to patients in homes, farms, and industry settings. In addition, after nearly 40 years of telemedicine technology development, we are finally witnessing the marketing of portable, rugged telemedicine equipment and video-equipped ambulance systems designed specifically for a prehospital environment. A review of the available literature reveals that there is still much work to do in substantiating the promise that these emerging technologies are offering to patients and the EMS community.