Video Cameras and Cells Phones Change 911

A portable video camera in the back of the speeding ambulance allows doctors to begin making a diagnosis even before the patient reaches the emergency room. A pioneering prototype at the University of Maryland was described in the March 19, 2001 Washington Post.

Many people who have strokes aren’t able to get the powerful drug TPA because there is only a brief window when it is effective. Often too much time has elapsed before the decision can be made.

By sending video images via the 4 cell phones hooked together in a telemedicine backpack, a new level of emergency diagnosis and treatment is possible for strokes – and soon for many other medical crises.