Australian EMS Technology

From ARNnet:

Victoria's Metropolitan Ambulance Service has issued its paramedic teams with fully ruggedized Panasonic CF-18 Toughbook laptops for use across its entire fleet of 160 ambulances.

The Toughbooks will be used primarily in tablet PC form and will run a software program called Vacis (Victorian Ambulance Clinical Information System), which the ambulance service designed and developed to assist paramedics by simplifying the process of capturing patient data for further analysis and reporting.

The Toughbooks will also hold information to help paramedics whilst they work including clinical practice guidelines, animated work instructions, training materials and the eMIMS electronic drug database.

Now, paramedics using Vacis provide the hospital with a paper copy of the patient care record, which is printed in the ambulance or at the hospital using the 802.11 wireless and Bluetooth features of the Toughbook. A future enhancement to Vacis will enable the patient care information to be wirelessly transferred direct to the hospital emergency department's information system.