Specialist advise to remote Army units

Sources at Headquarters Western Command said that existing medical equipment and infrastructure is being used in this phase and expected to be complete within a year.

Phase-II of the project will involve uprgadation of this network with state-of-the-art medical diagnostic equipment, which sources add, is likely to take another year.

Under the final phase, the network will be expanded to cover a large number of FMUs, zonal hospitals and command hospitals. Further a hub will also be established at the Delhi-based Army Research and Referral Hospital, which would have data links with the national as well as international tele-medicine centres. Phase-III is expected to take three to five years.

quot;The objective of tele-medicine,quot; a source at Headquarters Western Command said, quot;is to provide a revolutionary medical communication system for combat casualty care so as to provide the best possible care to injured troopers in forward areas.quot;

Referring to tele-medicine as a quot;distance healingquot; operation, an Army Medical Corps officer said that this requires the integration of telecommunications, computers and medical information to a very high degree. quot;The system, by itself is not a speciality, but a means to deliver quality health care anywhere and at anytime,quot; he said.

This can be achieved by the use of modern telecommunication equipment, satellite uplinks and high definition television combined with information technology executed largely through computers with Internet connection.

Sources add that statistical analysis of casualty figures reveal that a large number of fatalities that have occurred in forward areas could have perhaps been avoided had requisite diagnostic expertise been available to medical outposts based in remote areas. quot;The concept of tele-medicine, therefore, has a very high significance for the Army,quot; an officer said.

Using commercial off-the-shelf equipment, tele-medicine will enable Army medical personnel based at remote locations to consult with a specialist at military hospitals and obtain expert advice on critical or unusual cases in quot;real time8217;.

The major aspects of tele-medicine include total patient-soldier accountability in real time, keeping the evacuation of patients to an absolute minimum, and providing highest quality care to troops located anywhere within the military health care system.