The Southern Health Board has introduced an emergency vehicle which will be used for large disaster situations. The Forward Emergency Control Vehicle is the first of its kind in Europe and allows direct communication from accident sites to doctors in SHB hospitals.
"This new vehicle gives us, literally, the ability to judge how badly any individual has been injured, even though we're not at the site of the accident or disaster," explained Dr Stephen Cusack, accident and emergency consultant at Cork University Hospital.
The Forward Emergency Control Vehicle (FECV) can be airlifted or towed to any emergency area. It carries a specially-designed two-foot satellite "decoder cube" that allows the vehicle to send electrocardiogram and CT scan results, as well as pulse, blood pressure and other vital statistics to doctors in the accident and emergency rooms.
The FECV also runs a video link and can send digital pictures of wounds to the doctors on the case. The hospital computer systems are also available in the van.
The main purpose of the FECV is triage, the process by which doctors in any accident or disaster situation determine which patients need immediate attention and which ones can wait.
"It used to be that after a big disaster, like the Air India crash, they would just send everyone to the hospital whether they needed to be there or not," explained Ms Ursula O'Sullivan, director of information technologies and EU projects for the SHB.
"Now doctors can help emergency workers to treat some of the wounded on the spot. They can also identify those who need the most immediate attention."
The FECV grew out of two previous medical technology projects which the SHB developed. The first was KATE (Killarney and Telecom Eireann) in 1977, a communications network by which vital statistics and video images can be transmitted from Killarney to hospitals in Tralee and Cork. The KATE system allows residents on the Ring of Kerry to get the benefit of specialist expertise without having to travel long distances.
The second project, the "Caherciveen Hospital" in west Kerry, was developed in 1998. This is a virtual hospital, to which patients can go for routine appointments with specialists.
"It wouldn't be used for a first-time appointment with a specialist," Ms O'Sullivan said. "It is used for people who have to have a few things checked by their specialist every month.
"They come in and have their tests done, and they are sent on a video link to the doctors, who can speak to the patients. It is very good for older people who simply cannot make the long trip to Tralee or Cork regularly."
But to create the FECV, the SHB needed new technology to allow large amounts of information to be sent via a satellite from a small vehicle. The board went to the European Space Agency and explained that it wanted to create a small satellite decoder. The agency provided the money, and the two-foot satellite cube was created by researchers working for the board.
"Right now we only have one FECV," Ms O'Sullivan said. "And I am hoping that we never need more."