The Mike O'Callaghan Military Medical Center at the Nellis Air Force base in Las Vegas is the first site to connect to the Veterans Affairs Department's teleICU center, located in Minneapolis, according to Air Force Medical Service.
With the VA's remote intensive care unit program, patients' bedside clinical data is available to remote ICU intensivists, nurses and medical technicians via non-recording cameras, video display, microphones and speakers.
Practitioners can perform patient assessments, discuss with various care teams, provide bedside assistance and conduct patient rounds. If they need to contact the VA teleICU nurses for assistance, patients and medical center staff can press an "eLert" button located on the wall in patient rooms.
"The teleICU team can provide real-time advice regarding patient care with access to the patient's EMRs, radiology imaging, labs, current vital signs and vital sign trends," said Maj. Matthew Fain, MD, the 99th Medical Group critical care unit director, staff pulmonologist and intensivist. "This allows both ICU teams to make more informed decisions regarding patient care."
The base has five ICU rooms with the remote care system fully installed, but hopes to add more systems throughout the ICU.