Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) https://ohsu.edu is establishing an Emergency Critical Care Network to expand their existing Virtual Intensive Care Unit (VICU) https://ohsu.edu/virtual-video-visits platform by establishing their new Emergency Critical Care Network.
“The new Emergency Critical Care Network will allow OHSU to lead the effort in Oregon to connect rural areas to the expertise in our academic health center through easily deployable technology,” said Matthias Merkel, M.D. PhD., OHSU Senior associate CMO for Capacity Management and Patient Flow, and Professor of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine in the OHSU School of Medicine.
The system will enable video as well as continuous remote monitoring of blood pressure and oxygen flow from rural hospitals or even temporary quarters, such as armories or tents so enabling facilities will have access to specialist surveillance and expertise at OHSU.
“If there is another pandemic, we will have the new Emergency Critical Care Network available to be used by FEMA or the Department of Defense,” said David Zonies, MD, Associate CMO for Critical Care Services at OHSU, and Professor of Surgery in the OHSU School of Medicine.
The new Emergency Critical Care Network project will expand OHSU’s existing ability to monitor real-time data throughout the health system which has been dubbed Mission Control. The system is built on technology solutions developed by GE Healthcare, and will continue to expand through the Virtual ICU.
The Army in funding the initial proof of concept for the network provided $210,000 with additional funding following to be used for deployment and testing. The goal is to develop a remote critical care management platform that could prove to be useful in military operations overseas and to help in public health disasters or pandemics within the U.S.