Operating an eHealth System for Prehospital and Emergency Health Care Support in Light of Covid-19.

Autor:	Kyriacou E; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Informatics, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol, Cyprus., Antoniou Z; eHealth Lab, Department of Computer Science, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus., Hadjichristofi G; Department of Computer Science and Engineering, European University Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus., Fragkos P; eHealth Lab, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Informatics, Frederick University, Limassol, Cyprus., Kronis C; eHealth Lab, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Informatics, Frederick University, Limassol, Cyprus., Theodosiou T; Ambulance Department, State Health Services Organization, Ministry of Health, Nicosia, Cyprus., Constantinou R; Ambulance Department, State Health Services Organization, Ministry of Health, Nicosia, Cyprus.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Frontiers in digital health [Front Digit Health] 2021 Aug 24; Vol. 3, pp. 654234. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Aug 24 (Print Publication: 2021).
DOI:	10.3389/fdgth.2021.654234
Abstrakt:	Introduction: The support of prehospital and emergency call handling and the impact of Covid-19 is discussed throughout this study. The initial purpose was to create an electronic system (eEmergency system) in order to support, improve, and help the procedure of handling emergency calls. This system was expanded to facilitate needed operation changes for Covid-19. Materials and Methods: An effort to reform the procedures followed for emergency call handling and Ambulance dispatch started on the Island of Cyprus in 2016; along that direction, a central call centre was created. The electronic system presented in this work was designed for this call centre and the new organization of the ambulance services. The main features are the support for ambulance fleet handling, the support for emergency call evaluation and triage procedure, and the improvement of communication between the call centre and the ambulance vehicles. This system started regular operation at the end of 2018. One year later, when Covid-19 period started, we expanded it with the addition of several new features in order to support the handling of patients infected with the new virus. Results: This system has handled 112,414 cases during the last 25 months out of which 4,254 were Covid-19 cases. These cases include the transfer of patients from their house to the reference hospital, or the transfer of critical patients from the reference hospital to another hospital with an intensive care unit or transfer of patients from one hospital to another one for other reasons, like the number of admissions. Conclusion: The main purpose of this study was to create an electronic system (eEmergency system) in order to support, improve, and help the procedure of handling emergency calls. The main components and the architecture of this system are outlined in this paper. This system is being successfully used for 25 months and has been a useful tool from the beginning of the pandemic period of Covid-19. Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. (Copyright © 2021 Kyriacou, Antoniou, Hadjichristofi, Fragkos, Kronis, Theodosiou and Constantinou.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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