Telemedicine in civil protection: A controlled simulation study for the analysis of patient care

Abstract

Objectives More and more disasters are occurring and there will be an increasing shortage of physicians in the future. Telemedicine could be a solution here to offer medical care despite the lack of physicians in the area of operation. This study analyzes whether telemedicine for lower-qualified paramedics is comparable to conventional disaster medicine. Methods A simulation study was conducted in which one conventional and two telemedicine groups cared for thermal-traumatically injured in a stressful situation. The telemedicine was conducted on tablets with integrated vital sign monitoring or on smartphones. The physician engagement time, the number of physician contacts, the time for relevant measures and the usage behavior of telemedicine were examined between these groups. Results One telemedicine group showed significantly fewer patient contacts. This can be attributed to the ongoing consultation in the intervention group with more contacts. There are no significant differences in the relevant measures. Conclusion Telemedicine is comparable to conventional disaster medicine in civil protection. Due to potential technical failures, it should primarily be used to compensate for the lack of physicians, and training should focus on an exit-strategy in case of a failure of the telemedicine.