Patent Publication Number: US-2023154601-A1

Title: Computer-implemented method for managing a digital information exchange related to rescue operations, and method for coordinating emergency physicians available in an emergency physician pool

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit of German Application No. 102021129885.7, filed Nov. 16, 2021. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    shows a schematic representation of a deployment scenario, in which the computer-implemented method according to one example for managing a digital information exchange in connection with rescue operations is described and in which the method according to one example for coordinating available emergency physicians in an emergency physician pool is described. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The present disclosure relates to a computer-implemented method for managing a digital information exchange in connection with rescue operations according to the preamble of claim  1 . Furthermore, the present disclosure relates to a computer-implemented method for the coordination of emergency physicians available in a pool of emergency physicians according to claim  11 . 
     A method for operating a remote emergency physician system is known from DE 10 2020 109 040 A1, which comprises the following steps:
         filming a patient with a portable digital camera carried by a user;   generating a collection of essential features of a patient on the basis of the digital images acquired by the filming, the collection of essential features being generated in particular from a face of the patient and the collection being generated by the portable digital camera or by at least one of the routers or by the server;   comparing the collection of the essential features of the patient with the digital images continuously recorded in the vehicle by an on-board digital camera by means of an algorithm, the algorithm being implemented in the digital cameras of the vehicle or in the router or in the server;   starting a transfer of the digital images recorded in the vehicle to a display screen of a monitoring module as soon as the result of the comparison shows that the patient already detected by the portable digital camera is detected by the digital camera installed in the vehicle.       

     It is one object of the present disclosure to propose a computer-implemented method for managing a digital information exchange in connection with rescue operations, and also a method for coordinating emergency physicians available in an emergency physician pool, by means of which the available emergency physician or available emergency physicians can be deployed more efficiently. 
     This object is achieved by the features of claim  1  and claim  11  respectively. The respective dependent claims contain advantageous and expedient extensions. 
     In the computer-implemented method according to one example of the present disclosure for managing a digital information exchange in connection with rescue operations, which is implemented in an electronic organization system,
         which is connected to at least one control center via a communication link,   which is connected via a communication link to at least one ambulance and to at least one emergency paramedic assigned to the respective ambulance and   which is connected via a communication link to at least one emergency physician, in particular independently of the latter&#39;s location and speed of travel,   wherein the electronic organization system is notified for each connected emergency physician of a deployment status and an emergency physician assignment to an indications catalog,   wherein communication data, in particular as audio data and/or video data and/or location data and/or status data and/or control data, are exchanged via the electronic organization system depending on the situation.       

     This makes it possible for one emergency physician to handle multiple rescue operations, at least temporarily. This also makes it possible for an emergency physician with specialist knowledge to be recruited for handling the operation. Furthermore, it also enables an emergency physician who is driving towards a rescue operation or away from a rescue operation to be recruited to handle a rescue operation, at least temporarily. 
     The computer-implemented method also provides for
         an emergency medical consultation to be initiated by the emergency paramedic via the electronic organization system, wherein the electronic organization system, on the basis of geocoordinates of the ambulance located at a particular accident location and, in particular, on the basis of an indication, automatically establishes a data connection to the emergency physician, who is selected as suitable for an emergency medical consultation with regard to the criteria of deployment status and emergency physician assignment and/or with regard to the criterion of shortest distance to the accident site,   at the same time as initiating the emergency medical consultation, the electronic organization system to be informed by the control center about the initiation of the emergency medical consultation and the control center to be granted partial or complete access to the communication between the emergency medical paramedic and the selected emergency physician and/or specialist physician by the organization system. This automatically enables a targeted and rapid selection of a suitable emergency physician, wherein despite the high degree of automation the control center remains informed without any time delay and can therefore intervene in special cases.       

     The computer-implemented method also provides for
         an alarm to be issued to by the control center in the event of an accident reported to the control center via the organization system,   an alarm confirmation to be sent by the emergency paramedic to the control center via the organization system, and confirmation of the arrival at the accident site to be sent by the emergency paramedic via the organization system. This means that the computer-implemented method can also be used to send a conventional alarm to the emergency physician. This makes it easier to change over to the computer-implemented method, as this allows for a gradual modernization.       

     It is also provided that a further deployment criterion for each emergency physician can be created by the fact that the organization system automatically determines whether the respective emergency physician is connected to the electronic organization system from their workstation via a fixed router or from a position en route by means of a mobile router. Thus, the computer-implemented method can take into account other factors such as maximum possible data rate or temporary connection failure. 
     It can happen that the data rate is reduced due to faults in the mains supply. In the event of a reduced data rate, i.e. one that is insufficient for the transmission of all data available for transmission, the organization system specifies a prioritization for the data transmission, wherein it is provided in particular that voice communication is given the highest priority and that the transmission of the patient&#39;s vital signs data is given the second highest priority, with the transmission of a live video preferably given the lowest priority. In this case, the computer-implemented method can also provide for the prioritization to be modified by the emergency physician. This allows the prioritization to be optimally adapted to the individual deployment scenario. 
     In addition, the organization system can receive commands from the emergency physician or from the specialist physician, in particular by means of voice input or menu selection, for the execution of programmable routines by means of which rescue workers and/or auxiliary specialists and/or other specialists are automatically integrated into the organization system and are supplied with the available data, wherein the specialists that are integrated are in particular specialist physicians. This means that, in particular, a time advantage can be gained in the rescue process. Furthermore, such a degree of automation enables the emergency physician and/or the specialist physician to be only minimally distracted from their medical tasks by administrative activities. 
     The electronic organization system can also be equipped with a central computing unit and the electronic organization system can be equipped with terminal devices, which are each connected to it via at least one bidirectional communication path. This allows the entire process to be controlled centrally. 
     Furthermore, the computer-implemented method provides for
         coordinates of a current location of the emergency physician to be processed as control data for the deployment criterion “travel time to the accident site” and/or   a number of ongoing consultations involving the emergency physician to be processed as control data for the deployment criterion “workload of the emergency physician” and/or   a designation of the medical specialty of the emergency physician to be processed as control data for the deployment criterion “specialization”. By comparing such control data, the most suitable emergency physician can be determined quickly and easily from a large number of available emergency physicians. As a result, restrictive constraints from a predetermined alarm catalog for the remote emergency physician can also be used to select the appropriate emergency physician.       

     It is also provided for a static workplace of the emergency physician and/or a mobile workplace of the emergency physician to be designed such that it is multisession-capable, so that parallel connections to multiple accident sites are established for the emergency physician if required. In this way, emergency care can be ensured at each of the accident sites, even in the event of an undersupply of emergency physicians. 
     Furthermore, a prioritization of the transmission of the various data types, such as in particular the data types of voice data and vital signs data and image data and live video data, can be carried out in such a way that, depending on a possible transmission quality and/or transmission rate or depending on, for example, a transmission quality and/or transmission rate to be expected along a route, e.g. of a journey from the accident site to the hospital, the prioritization of the data types is automated or can be both activated and deactivated by the emergency paramedic or by the emergency physician or the control center, and the data types are prioritized for transmission in particular in a prioritization order of voice data, vital signs data of the accident victim, image data, and live video data. This means that the emergency physician can ensure basic care provision despite difficult conditions. 
     It may also be possible for the prioritization order to be ultimately determined by the emergency physician. Depending on the medical requirements, the physician can switch between, for example, transmission of voice data and vital signs data of the accident victim or, for example, also briefly prioritize the exclusive transmission of live video data if this is required for diagnosis, for example. 
     In the method according to one example of the present disclosure for coordinating emergency physicians available in an emergency physician pool,
         the emergency physician pool comprises at least one “mobile emergency physician”, whose emergency ambulance is equipped with means of communication such that the emergency physician can communicate with the emergency paramedic already at an accident site when approaching the site,   the emergency physician pool comprises at least one “remote emergency physician”, whose base is equipped in such a way that the emergency physician can communicate with the emergency paramedic already at the accident site,   wherein each emergency physician
           is assigned a first characteristic value, which indicates their emergency physician status, namely “mobile emergency physician” or “remote emergency physician”,   is assigned a second characteristic value, which indicates their deployment status, namely “available” or “not available”,   is assigned a third characteristic value, which indicates the indications from an indications catalog for which the emergency physician is a specialist,   
           wherein an electronic organization system is used to make a selection on the basis of the characteristic values, on the basis of an accident report and on the basis of information provided by the emergency paramedic,
           which is either sent to the control center as a proposal for an emergency physician to be commissioned from the emergency physician pool   or by means of which an emergency physician from the emergency physician pool is automatically assigned.   
               

     This also makes it possible for an emergency physician with specialist knowledge to be consulted for the treatment. Furthermore, it also enables an emergency physician who is driving towards a rescue operation or away from a rescue operation to be recruited to handle a rescue operation, at least temporarily. 
     It is also provided, once a “mobile emergency physician” is selected for assignment, that the location of all “mobile emergency physicians” will be recorded as a fourth parameter and that the selection of the emergency physician will also depend on a calculated journey time to an accident site. 
     It is also provided that a means of transport available to the “mobile emergency physicians”, which can be designed in particular as a road vehicle or watercraft or aircraft, is recorded as a fifth characteristic value. This will further improve the automatic selection of a suitable emergency physician. 
     It is also provided for a static workplace of the emergency physician and/or a mobile workplace of the emergency physician to be designed such that it is multisession-capable, so that parallel connections to multiple accident sites are established for the emergency physician if required. In this way, emergency care can be ensured at each of the accident sites, even in the event of an undersupply of emergency physicians. Accordingly, it is also provided that in the case of parallel handling of different emergencies by the same emergency physician, a screen display of each emergency is adapted automatically or by the emergency physicians themselves, so that different amounts of data are displayed for each emergency according to the emergency situation. This makes it possible to reduce the amount of information without loss of quality, wherein, for example, in an emergency involving straightforward patient transport only the vital signs data of the patient is displayed. 
     Finally, it is also possible to determine the second characteristic value from an electronic duty roster or to verify it by means of an electronic duty roster. According to the first variant, the second characteristic value can easily be extracted from an existing planning system. According to the second variant, that is, if the deployment status is determined, e.g. by using automatic status detection or using a status set by the emergency physician or remote emergency physician themselves, the plausibility of the existing status can be easily checked so that incorrect information can be detected automatically. 
     For the purposes of the present disclosure, management of a digital information exchange means controlling and monitoring this digital information exchange. 
     Additional details of the present disclosure are described in the drawing on the basis of exemplary embodiments shown schematically. 
       FIG.  1    shows a schematic deployment scenario  1 , in which the computer-implemented method according to one example of the present disclosure for managing a digital information exchange in connection with rescue operations is described, and in which the method according to one example of the present disclosure for coordinating available emergency physicians in an emergency physician pool is described. 
     The deployment scenario  1  shows a first ambulance  101  from a plurality of ambulances, which is located at a first accident site  102 . The ambulance  101  is assigned a first emergency paramedic  103 , who is taking care of a first accident victim  104  outside the ambulance  101 . 
     The deployment scenario  1  shows a second ambulance  201  from the plurality of ambulances, which is on the way to a second accident site  202 . The second ambulance  201  is assigned a second emergency paramedic  203 . At the accident site  202  there is a second accident victim  204 . 
     The deployment scenario  1  shows a third ambulance  301  from the plurality of ambulances, which is on the way back from a third accident site  302 . The ambulance  301  is assigned a third emergency paramedic  303 , who is taking care of a third accident victim  304  in the ambulance  301 . 
     The deployment scenario  1  also shows a control center  401 . 
     In addition, the deployment scenario  1  shows a first emergency physician  501  who is available for deployment at a fixed first location  502 , and a second emergency physician  601  who is travelling in an emergency ambulance  602  and is available for deployment. The first emergency physician  501  is also referred to as a remote emergency physician or static emergency physician, and the second emergency physician  601  is also referred to as a mobile emergency physician. 
     The deployment scenario  1  also shows a hospital  701 , in which a plurality of specialist physicians  702   a ,  702   b  and  702   c  are on duty. 
     Finally, the deployment scenario  1  schematically shows an electronic organization system  2  in which the method for managing a digital information exchange in connection with rescue operations is implemented. 
     The electronic organization system  2  is connected via communication links  3  to the control center  401 , to the first ambulance  101  and the first emergency paramedic  103 , to the second ambulance  201  and the second emergency paramedic  203 , to the third ambulance  301  and the third emergency paramedic  303 , to the first emergency physician  501  via a terminal  503 , to the second emergency physician  601  via a terminal  603 , and to the specialist physicians  702   a - 702   c  via a terminal  703 . 
     The electronic organization system  2  is notified of a deployment status and an emergency physician assignment to an indications catalog for each connected emergency physician  501 ,  601 . 
     In addition, communication data, in particular as audio data and video data and location data and status data and control data, is exchanged via the electronic organization system  2  depending on the situation. 
     In this case, in the illustrated deployment scenario  1 , audio data, video data and status data are exchanged between the first emergency paramedic  103  and the first emergency physician  501  via the electronic organization system  2 . As a result, the first emergency physician  501  can observe the first accident victim  104  by means of a bodycam  103   a  worn by the first emergency paramedic  103 , is simultaneously in voice communication with the first emergency paramedic  103 , and receives vital signs data of the first accident victim  102  transmitted as status data. For this purpose, for example, an ECG (not shown) is used, which is also connected wirelessly to the electronic organization system. 
     In this case, the second ambulance  201  has received geocoordinates of the second accident site  202  via the electronic organization system  2  on the basis of an emergency call received in the control center  401  and is on its way to the second accident victim  204 . Furthermore, on the basis of the data “life-threatening injury” and “infant” reported to the control center  401  regarding the 5 second accident victim  204 , the electronic organization system  2  has alerted the second mobile emergency physician  601  as he/she can reach the second accident site  202  the fastest and as the suspected severity of the accident requires an emergency physician on site. In this case, the time required to arrive at the second accident site  202  was determined by the electronic organization system  2  on the basis of the geocoordinates of the second accident site  202  and on the basis of the geocoordinates that the emergency ambulance  602  of the second emergency physician  601  had at the time of the emergency call. In addition, on the basis of the reported data regarding the accident victim, the electronic organization system  2  has already alerted one of the specialist physicians  702   a - 702   c  in the hospital  701 , who can support the second emergency physician  602  via the terminal  703  available in the hospital  701 . The emergency physician  601  can then connect to the emergency paramedic  203 , who in the present scenario will arrive at the accident site  202  before the emergency physician  601 , and guide the latter in the first-aid treatment. For this purpose, the emergency physician  601  uses the terminal  603 . 
     The treatment of the third accident victim  304 , who is in the third ambulance  301  on the way to the hospital  701 , is supported via multisession by the first emergency physician  501 , who by means of a camera  301   a  present in the third ambulance  301  or a bodycam  303   a  worn by the third emergency paramedic  303  can observe the third accident victim  304 , is in voice communication with the third emergency paramedic  303 , and receives vital signs data of the third accident victim  304  transmitted as status data. For this purpose, the multisession-capable terminal  503  is available at the first location  502 . 
     The electronic organization system  2  offers the control center  401  the facility to track the communication data of the individual rescue operations, so that, for example, in the event of overloading of the rescue system the control center  401  can track and classify the ongoing rescue operations and intervene in a coordinated manner. 
     Both the emergency paramedics  103 ,  203 ,  303  and also the emergency physicians  501 ,  601 , the emergency ambulances  101 ,  201 ,  301  and the emergency ambulance  602  are equipped with terminal devices which enable the described communication within the electronic organization system. 
     The electronic organization system  2  comprises a central computing unit  4 . This is connected via the communication links  3 , which are implemented as wireless, bidirectional communication channels, to the various terminal devices such as the bodycams  103   a ,  303   a , the camera  301   a , and the terminals  503 ,  603 ,  703 . 
     An emergency physician pool includes the emergency physicians  501  and  601  as well as other emergency physicians not explicitly mentioned, which at district borders can also be mobile emergency doctors from other districts and which can also be hospital-based emergency doctors from any other districts. 
     It can also be provided that in the computer-implemented method for managing a digital information exchange in connection with ambulances a prioritization of the transmission of the various data types, such as in particular the data types of voice data and vital signs data and image data and live video data, is carried out in such a way that, depending on a possible transmission quality and/or transmission rate or depending on, for example, a transmission quality and/or transmission rate to be expected along a route, e.g. of a journey from the accident site to the hospital, the prioritization of the data types is automated or can be both activated and deactivated by the emergency paramedic or by the emergency physician or the control center, and the data types are prioritized for transmission in particular in a prioritization order of voice data, vital signs data of the accident victim, image data and live video data. 
     In the computer-implemented method it is provided that the prioritization order is ultimately determined by the emergency physician. This means that, if required due to low transmission quality and/or transmission rate, the physician can switch between the data types to provide the emergency paramedic with optimum support. 
     This also makes it possible for the emergency physician to virtually accompany one or more patient transports. If the emergency physician&#39;s terminal is operated in multisession mode, they can also virtually accompany multiple patient transports and make the prioritization of the data rates dependent, for example, on the condition of the individual patients, wherein a display of the vital signs data of the individual patients will usually be sufficient. 
     Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 
     LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS 
     
         
           1  deployment scenario 
           2  electronic organization system 
           3  communication link to  2   
           4  computing unit 
           101  first ambulance 
           102  first accident site 
           103  first emergency paramedic 
           103   a  bodycam belonging to  103   
           104  first accident victim 
           201  second ambulance 
           202  second accident site 
           203  second emergency paramedic 
           204  second accident victim 
           301  third ambulance 
           301   a  camera in  301   
           302  third accident site 
           303  third emergency paramedic 
           303   a  bodycam belonging to  303   
           304  third accident victim 
           401  control center 
           501  first emergency physician or remote emergency physician or static emergency physician 
           502  first location 
           503  multisession-capable terminal 
           601  second emergency physician or mobile emergency physician 
           602  ambulance belonging to  601   
           701  hospital 
           702   a - 702   c  specialist physician 
           703  terminal