Digitalisation in healthcare: The Digital Rescue Chain improves the care of emergency victims

Saving valuable time and thus lives – this goal was supported by the Thuringia Digital Agency (DAT) as part of the Thuringian pilot project of the Digital Rescue Chain. The former pilot project is currently being expanded throughout Thuringia to include ground-based rescue services. The digital pre-registration of emergency victims in the emergency rooms of Thuringian hospitals is also being expanded. The objective: To optimise the exchange of information between all parties concerned – rescue control centre, emergency medical personnel, hospital – thus providing the best possible care for those affected.

Fast, secure data exchange in emergencies

In the case of an accident involving serious injuries or where people's lives are in danger due to a heart attack or stroke, every second counts. Many people are involved in the rescue: In addition to the emergency medical personnel, there are also many employees of the rescue control centre and hospitals. This places high demands on seamless collaboration. It is important to collect critical data as quickly as possible, such as the condition of the patient or the requirements of the emergency room for the best possible treatment of the acute clinical picture. Next, this data must be shared in such a way that all parties involved can access it quickly and easily and act accordingly. Digital applications make it possible to meet this challenge.

Saving lives with digitalisation and digital tools

  • Enabling rescue workers to act quickly
  • Seamless collaboration between all helpers
  • Allow data to flow intelligently
  • Simplify administration for all

“Digitalisation saves lives”

Heiko Kahl

Heiko Kahl Managing Director of the Thuringia Digital Agency

“Digitalisation supports processes in a wide variety of life situations, but rarely can it provide such valuable services as in the establishment of the Digital Rescue Chain. Here, modern technology helps in a very specific way to accelerate the emergency treatment of patients, to optimise communication and cooperation of all medical assistants and to collect, transmit, document and evaluate all necessary data for acute and further treatment.”

    Steps towards the digitalisation of the emergency room

    1

    Thuringia Digital Agency (DAT) shapes the cooperation of many stakeholders, including the state government with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of the Interior, the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians of Thuringia, as well as the municipalities and districts.

    2

    The DIVIDOK project makes it possible to record emergency response data with an area-wide standardised recording system via ePen or tablet. This enables emergency medical staff to inform the admitting hospital in advance.

    3

    The MEDIRett project serves to accelerate the flow of data and to ensure complete data documentation. This allows for emergency rescue operations and patient transports to be documented electronically.

    4

    Complex digital tools for the statistical processing of data allow for carrying out post-processing of a wide variety of operations and thus for the constant evaluation and improvement of the digitalisation of the rescue chain.

    The result: digital cooperation for the benefit of the patient

    Within a short period of time, the pilot project succeeded in bringing together a wide variety of participants through collaborative projects and thus in developing complex solutions to problems.

    The results covered many areas: Data documentation, information transfer, digital networking between preclinical and clinical care facilities, as well as statistical follow-up to evaluate the digitally-based processes aimed at the continuous optimisation of the Digital Rescue Chain.

    With the implementation of the first process solutions, an increase in supply security and optimisation of individual links in the complex rescue chain has been achieved.

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