As they deal with a pandemic, the city’s fire rescue crews are trying out a new technique.
From the scene of the rescue call, the Providence firefighters make contact with a doctor, via Zoom, on an iPad. The doctor’s input, based in part on vital signs and other information that firefighters provide electronically, can head off an unnecessary emergency visit to the hospital.
The Providence firefighters’ recent foray into the field of “telemedicine” is a direct consequence of the coronavirus pandemic. Local doctors and the city’s fire rescue crews are trying out the technique, on a trial basis, to see if telemedicine can provide efficiencies that would help conserve emergency medical personnel and equipment for needed hospital visits, according to public safety officials.