Ramblings from an Automation Mad Man
By Jerry Maldonado -VP Business Unit Strategy, Customer Lifecycle Solutions
It has been several weeks since my last post. It was not because I had nothing to write about or stir up conversation about, it was because of a family emergency. We all have had them and when they come up, we deal with them in our own ways. For me it was all about getting my dad back to health and while we waited on news and or information, it was looking at the technology in play and ways to speed up the process. See that is why I am the mad man.
From the moment I saw my dad in the wee hours of the am, I knew time was of the essence. A call to 911 had a first responder at our door within minutes. During that time, the operator was walking me through procedures to assess the condition and severity of the situation to help her dispatch the right equipment and resources needed onsite. I know this because I chatted with the 911 liaison at the hospital who had put me in contact with 911 operations team. It was reminiscent of an IT help desk conversation as they triaged the condition to find out the issue. Granted this was a lifesaving exercise and not a Microsoft word malfunctioning but the process was interestingly the same.
As I chatted with the folks I realized that their process was a one-step ordeal - determine status, get information, ascertain loss of life possibility, and select a resource to aide in continuing and starting the repair process. The issue became clear to me that it was all about time. How fast can they get to the repair portion or lifesaving part (the second part came back to me after another family emergency earlier this year where I was instructed over the phone on how to perform CPR).
In the computer world, we have manuals and videos to help us along the way. Documented procedures on how to reboot things, repair parts, or replace them. Remote support is a trained technician that can take over a machine and perform activities or capture data. That is when it hit me. What or how could we get this information sent to a trained personal quickly and easily? I recently wrote about virtual reality and how virtual reality would be the operation rooms of the future and where a DR in New York could perform open heart surgery to a wounded soldier in the field with the use of a robot and med tech on site. Well if that is in the works why can’t we come up with a more efficient way to get information to the 911 operator?
That’s when I wondered what if they could use a remote control program and a smart phone app to help assist with the triage? I had recently seen an app that used the camera and flash of a phone to detect pulse rate and o2 levels , a fit band can monitor heart rate and breathing , and I am sure someone has figured out a way to blue tooth connect a Blood Pressure machine to a mobile device . Once that information is in the hands of the technician, steps can be taken sooner that could aide in the process, and at the very least prep the ER faster. In the words of big data, it is all about the data when trying to save a life these days.
Let’s call the system JEMsave. JEMsave could be designed so only 911 operators can activate it and establish a link to a central machine that they now can monitor and share with the transport hospital or facility. It can be also transferred to the ambulance communication system from the 911 operator as part of the data transfer once they are onsite. It can be turned off as well so that the ambulance with its much more efficient data collection system. Once completed a log of the incident is all that is saved for hippa requirements and all data is verified transferred then deleted.
JEMsave could be an addition to Police office cars who are typical first responders and can retrofitted with new sensors and wearable devices in the future maybe even breath analyzers so that DWI suspects can be processed faster and get them into help programs quicker.
With a little work , the idea of big brother being able to reach out to a smart device and help save the life of a loved one, will be one we all share . It’s amazing how a single moment can change a life and how that same moment can end one. While I continue to work with doctors and my family to bring my Dad back to health, I see ways in which my mad man thinking might be used to help someone else down the road. In fact I suggested some changes to the emergency room staff on utilizing their portable data collections carts and was able to shave 10 minutes off collection time of critical data. As well as showed two eight year kids how to play games on a hospital supplied ipad while their mom was being tended to after a car accident.
So my hats off to all that help and work in the medical field, you saved my dad and I thank you. So now it’s time to pay it forward so we can save more tomorrow. Got ideas on how we can change the technology footprint for our first responders and the entire ER process? Let’s chat. I got a bunch of them that you will read about real soon.
Follow the Ramblings from an Automation Mad Man every other Wednesday. Did you miss the last post? Read it here: Welcome to MMDS ( Mad Man Delivery Service)