We have been operating a tele-triage system for the emergency transport of patients with amputated or open-hand injuries. This system is designed to share photo information taken at the scene with the emergency medical team via email for appropriate triage. However, the burden on the emergency medical team has been a concern. Therefore, we initiated a trial and actual operation of the system using video as part of a social implementation experiment.
During the trial, we discovered that the time from receiving a call to deciding where to transport the patient could be reduced. In actual cases, the time required for transport was also reduced compared to the conventional method.
In a questionnaire, doctors reported that the video system provided more information than photographs and allowed them to specify the part of the hand they wanted to see. Compared to pictures and emails, the video tele-triage system can reduce the workload of the emergency team and share more detailed information in real-time.
Although there are issues to address, such as the cost of implementation and familiarity with the system, it has the potential to enhance the quality of emergency medical care related to open fractures of extremities, including hand trauma.
