STURGIS, S.D. – When an opportunity to apply for a pilot program in telemedicine designed for ambulances became available, Shawn Fisher with the Sturgis Ambulance Service was among the first to apply. The technology connects doctors and nurses to EMS personnel in real time to ensure patients receive the most appropriate care as quickly as possible.
“This gives us another tool in our toolkit,” she says.
The South Dakota Department of Health announced its new telehealth partnership between DOH, Emergency Medical Service Agencies, and Sioux Falls-based telemedicine provider, Avel eCare. The initiative has a budget of $1.7 million dollars, approved by the South Dakota Legislature.
“When you have a long way to go and you need more medication enroute but question whether more should be administered because of a possible future surgery or other health issues, the doctor is essentially with you in the ambulance and can give guidance on that. The new technology gives us medical direction right in the ambulance,” according to Fischer.
Additionally, the telehealth specialist can provide status reports to the hospital about what’s happening with the patient, so that the hospital can have any supplies or staff prepared and ready when the ambulance arrives.
“In an ambulance you have two or three people,” explains Fischer. “Now, when we’re on our way to the hospital and we have direct telehealth communications, they will call the hospital ahead of us, tell them what is being done enroute and what those in the emergency room need to be ready for.”
In addition to the ambulance telemedicine program, Gov. Kristi Noem and state lawmakers approved three initiatives in 2022 that allocated up to $20 million for emergency medical services, hoping to bolster ambulance services in the state. The largest portion of the funds — $11.6 million used to purchase LIFEPAK 15 patient monitors and defibrillators, along with training, distribution, and installation fees as well as eight years of support service and data integration — are starting to be distributed to ambulance services across the state, according to the state Department of Health.
The LIFEPAK tools, which are outdated or unusable in a significant number of districts, evaluate a patient’s heart and vitals and are important for treating patients suffering cardiac arrest or a stroke before they arrive at the hospital.
As of March 24, the state had received 75 devices that cost about $44,000 each. The state expects to receive the full order of 345 devices by the end of May, said Department of Health spokesperson Kieran Tate.
All 122 licensed ambulance services in South Dakota are eligible for the LIFEPAK tools, but ambulance services that had malfunctioning devices, models that no longer transmit information, or outdated devices were eligible for the earliest round of distribution.
