We don’t have enough doctors to cover all the battlefields. Their advice is absolutely needed,” said Brad Stewart, ADS Medical Team Business Development Manager. “That’s the beauty of HALO. Anyone can use it, medical professional or not. It is designed to deliver real-time advanced medicine experts’ advice at the point-of-injury through point-of-view telemedicine. You become the eyes, ears and hands of the doctor.
IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE?
SIX15’S HALO RX PUTS ADVANCED MEDICAL CAPABILITIES ON THE FRONT LINES
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. (September 23, 2015):
Current combat missions in austere environments with limited resources are changing the dynamics of battlefield medicine. The special operations community is quickly revising its standing medical care practices to address more prolonged care scenarios with an emphasis on developing new methods of communicating patient status and data as well as receiving remote medical assistance. Getting expert medical advice and treatment to wounded service members as quickly and efficiently as possible has always been a challenge for the U.S. military. Come to think of it, this has been the case for just about every military on the planet. While the standard MEDEVAC and CASEVAC conventions get the job done pretty handily, they are not as efficient as they could be due to information gaps and the lack of on-the-scene medical expertise. These are two of primary issues the HALO Rx. system, developed primarily by SIX15 Technologies, in partnership with ADS, Inc. hopes to address.
HALO Rx is a helmet-mounted monocle or eyeglasses with built-in heads-mounted-display (HMD) that highlights active patient data in the field of view. Patient vitals are collected by vital sign pucks and transmitted from forward-deployed medical stations via vital signs pucks to a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) certified cloud. The HIPAA cloud can be accessed by an advanced medical provider at an off-site, fixed medical facility. Additionally, the system’s open architecture allows for any information gathered by medical devices with output capability to be collected in the field and transmitted back to the fixed facility. The HALO Rx is like having an on-scene medical expert, even in the most remote and challenging environments. On-scene medical personnel facilitate the interaction between off-site advanced medical providers and the patient. Live video, voice and patient data are captured from the point of injury or within an evacuation vehicle. This data is encrypted and transmitted over any network to the HIPAA cloud provided by Adhere2Care (A2C). This real-time consultation enables continuous medical treatment and reduces gaps in information and triage as a patient is administered care. Advanced providers can guide and direct medical treatment as required.
Another benefit of having access to expert medical advice down-range is determining the appropriate response to medical issues. In the past, forward-deployed medical facilities would err on the side of caution when deciding whether or not to MEDEVAC a patient. The HALO Rx consultations with medical experts help on-site medical professionals determine the right treatment or level of care rather than defaulting to a MEDEVAC. This keeps the movement of personnel in and out of hostile areas to a minimum. It also supports the notion of prolonged field care (PFC) as opposed to the overuse of limited resources for unnecessary patient evacuations.
PFC is the result of longer times on station due, more specifically, to those operating in Africa, where even an emergency CASEVAC can take 36 to 72 hours to move from one echelon of care to the next. PFC is becoming a standard of care for SOCOM teams where CASEVAC and MEDEVAC missions are no longer a viable option. Telemedicine has become the key component to PFC. Currently there are courses of instruction that the U.S. State Department and various SOCOM units are developing through groups such as JTM Training Group in Las Vegas.
“The Halo Rx is a game-changer in the wearables and telemedicine revolution,” said Jim Donnelly, vice president of business development at SIX 15 Technologies. “As the adoption for devices like the Halo Rx continues to grow, we will see the walls of interoperability start to come down, investments grow and more partnerships start to form. We have the opportunity and honor to design innovative devices and technology that exponentially improve the care available to military personnel in remote areas and beyond. It’s no small task, but we are off to a promising start.”
About SIX15 SIX15 Technologies is the world leader in researching, developing and manufacturing wearable optical displays. SIX15 Technologies develop both off-the-shelf and customer smart glass solutions for Fortune 500 companies and government and defense agencies. We specialize in high-resolution, head-mounted displays (HMD) and optoelectronic module (OEM) manufacturing. Located in Henrietta, N.Y., our 9,000 square foot productions facility manufactures OEM components for thermal images, industrial display systems, R&D projects and customer computing and display solutions. SIX15 Technologies is at the forefront of wearable solutions for the defense industry, public safety, security, medical and first responder markets globally with about 250,000 wearable optical modules delivered and integrated into OEM’s systems.
About ADS ADS Inc. is a leading solutions provider that proudly serves all branches of the U.S. Military, federal, state and local government organizations, law enforcement agencies, first responders, partner nations and the defense industry. The company’s medical team is comprised of multiple subject matter experts with backgrounds and experience in military medicine. Their specialties include, but are certainly not limited to, combat medicine, custom medical kitting solutions, domestic preparedness, emergency medical services, evacuation & rescue, battalion aid stations and medical treatment solutions. Overall, ADS is focused on solving customers’ challenges through the largest product and service offerings, the broadest array of procurement and contract options, world-class support and logistics solutions and legendary customer service. To learn more, please visit the ADS website at www.adsinc.com.
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