L.A. County Fire Department Launches Telemedicine Using GD e-Bridge

L.A. County Fire Department Launches Telemedicine Using GD e-Bridge

EMS Bureau Achieves 3% Patient Transport Reduction During COVID-19 Pandemic and Preserves Valuable Resources

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ridgefield, NJ – June 25, 2020 ­– GD (General Devices), a Med Tech specialist in mobile telemedicine and telehealth, announced the LA County Fire Department (LACoFD), with the help of the L.A. County Fire Department Foundation, launched a telemedicine program through a donation from GD for its GD e-Bridge telemedicine app. During the pilot period the department reduced transports by 3%.

The LA County Fire Department had been in discussions to implement telehealth and with the pressing need to prepare the region to address the threat of COVID-19 they launched a pilot quickly. The LA County Fire Department Foundation, a nonprofit organization formed in 2015 to support the needs of the LACoFD, helped obtain donations to upgrade their electronic patient record devices so they could partner with cutting edge companies that have applications that would improve patient care, increase resources and hopefully reduce unnecessary hospital transports for the region.

The GD e-Bridge mobile app enables live communications between and among EMS crews, Medical Directors and hospital teams by sharing pictures, audio, video and live streaming to determine if patient transport to a hospital is necessary. This type of assessment is often outside the scope of a paramedic and typically needs a nurse, physician’s assistant or doctor to evaluate. GD e-Bridge is configurable, enabling users to tailor the interface, alerts, buttons, authorized participants, workflow and more which supported field personnel’s assessments.

The foundation also received donations from T-Mobile USA Metabolic Studio and others that supported the purchase of the devices, accessories and data plans. The donations provided the fire department with a fully functioning telemedicine program.

The fire department’s EMS Bureau uses the GD e-Bridge app to consult and obtain medical direction to provide care outside of a paramedic’a scope and allow appropriate medical profssionals to determine if a transport is necessary and where to determine if a patient transport is necessary and if transporting to a non-emergency room is appropriate. In the first 120 telemedicine calls, these telehealth consultations, were able to determine 58 patients did not need to be transported to a hospital.

“We appreciate our partnership with General Devices,” said Stacy Mungo, executive director of LA Fire Foundation, “it allowed us to better support the medical system during this pandemic.”

The GD Responsive Innovation team’s core purpose is to “improve the health and well-being of the public at large by providing responsive innovation that connects first responders and healthcare providers.” The donation to LA County  Fire Foundation fulfills that purpose by helping to increase department efficiency and save lives.

Contact GD to learn how GD e-Bridge mobile telemedicine can provide Response Innovation to your teams.

ABOUT GD (General Devices)

GD is a 40-year-old medical technology company that specializes in mobile telemedicine and telehealth that, enables simply smarter patient care by empowering hospitals, EMS, mobile integrated healthcare, community paramedicine and public safety responders with the most comprehensive, highly configurable, and affordable medical team communications solutions. Learn more at general-devices.com.