An assessment of telemedicine possibilities in massive casualties situations

Paunksnis A, Barzdžiukas V, Kurapkiene S, Vaicaitiene R, Sereika V

Abstract

The use of existing possibilities of Telemedicine Center of Kaunas University of Medicine allows the live distant consultations from high-level medical specialised centers to rural areas. On July 2004 the Telemedicine Center took part in the RESCUER/MEDCEUR project exercise. A special objective was the use of telemedicine facilities for distant consultations and sorting of victims directly at the event place. Telemedicine Center used appropriate telecommunication devices for joint activities of civil and multinational military services in critical situations such as mass casualty events. There were used ISDN lines and IP radio-connection.
On the final and most intensive day of the anti-terrorism drills, the multinational force of medics at the Kairiu Training Range in Lithuania reacted to a large mass casualty event – treating hundreds of victims from a simulated train crash. Using on-line telemedicine facilities from Kaunas Medical University Hospital there were corrected the tactics of giving the first help and sorting of casualties. The most complicated initiated cases of eye trauma, neurosurgical trauma, maxilloface trauma and traumatic amputation of limbs evaluated and selected for emergent evacuation to the third level hospitals. All those cases transported to Kaunas and Vilnius Universities Hospitals by helicopters (200 and 300 km from the event place).
The common use of existing military and civil telemedicine infrastructure showed the possibilities of interaction in management, giving the first help and sorting of casualties between military and civil medical services during the rescue operations.
Key words: 	telemedicine, civil and military medicine, teleconsultations, medical information.