Mayo Regional Hospital launches TeleEmergency technology

Mayo Regional Hospital has enhanced its emergency department.

With a push of a button, they have virtual access to a team of Dartmouth Hitchcock physicians and nurses in New Hampshire.

"Whether it is help with documentation, which is our most common call, or help with decision making or help with patient transfer, so we basically temporarily expand the staff with emergency trained folks 24/7."

It's called TeleEmergency technology and we're told Mayo is the first hospital in Maine to use it.

"There are times when you get more than one critical patient or a very traumatized car accident patient etc. where you would like to have that emergency trained board-certified physician looking over your shoulder and assisting you for what the best path of treatment is."

A TV monitor with a two-way camera and a button on the wall allows immediate access to folks in New Hampshire who specialize in emergency medicine.

"If there is a surge of patients or a critically complex patient, I think the staffing here is such that you have one provider 24/7, so we double that effectively whenever we get called and similarly add to the nursing team."

TeleEmergency will provide fewer transfers to other hospitals, faster activation of emergency transport, expert advice, and much more.

"It's just a resource to add on to the great services that we already have here at Mayo, but we are small, and so having extra surge compacity with expertise in emergency care is just, we think, is going to be a wonderful thing for our patients and our community."

The emergency team at Mayo Regional Hospital treated over ten thousand people last year.

"This is just the beginning for how far Tele-Medicine is probably going to become important in our world and healthcare in general, but especially rural health care."