Telemedicine in Motion program earning praise

PIERRE, SD (KELO.com) — A 20-million dollar investment is paying big dividends for the state of South Dakota, in the area of Rural Telemedicine.  It’s called the Telemedicine in Motion program, and the state Health Department says it has transformed emergency medical services across the state.  EMS and Trauma Administrator Marty Link says the idea was to create a pioneering concept never tried before in the U-S.

The bid to create the system was won by AVEL E-Care of Sioux Falls.  Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT’s) are a critical link between patients in need of care and medical centers that can provide that care.  In South Dakota, over 80-percent of those EMT’s are volunteers.  Link says the two-year old program provides live video assistance to emergency responders as they rush their patients to the hospital.

Link says EMT’s never have to be alone with a patient in an ambulance alone again.  He believes the program has dramatically improved the effectiveness of emergency response, and neighboring states are taking notice.

How effective is the program?  Telemedicine in Motion may have made the difference between life and death for a man who was gored by a buffalo.  It provided emergency room workers in the critical care medical facility he was taken to with information that allowed them to have a game plan for treatment before he arrived.

Link says the outcome couldn’t have been better.

Telemedicine in Motion is now in its second year of operation.