Faster emergency responses? There's an app for that...

Apopka Fire Department and Florida Hospital Use New Mobile Application for Faster Emergency Response

From The City of Apopka

Apopka is partnering with Florida Hospital as the first fire department in the state to utilize new mobile communication software that speeds up emergency medical service.

City paramedics started using the Twiage mobile application this month, complementing traditional two-way radios to deliver medical information while en route to Florida Hospital Apopka. The new system provides for fast and accurate communication allowing hospital emergency medical teams to better evaluate and prepare for patient treatment.

Apopka Fire Chief Chuck Carnesale and Capt. Wil Sanchez joined with Florida Hospital staff on Monday to demonstrate the software with Twiage CEO and co-founder John Hui. Other fire departments are now evaluating the software for future use.

“It was hard to believe that in 2017 radio was still the main communication form in the emergency medical services environment,” said John Hui, Twiage CEO. “With this new app, first responders can upload all the information about a patient in less than 30 seconds.”

The new program started as an initiative to provide better care to stroke patients, but after seeing its potential, Florida Hospital decided to implement it throughout its system of hospitals to offer expedited care to all patients.

“The improved technology allows the hospital to know our exact time of arrival, thanks to a real-time GPS system,” said Apopka Fire Capt. Wil Sanchez. “We can also transmit photos and videos from the emergency scene, allowing the staff at the hospital to know what we are actually dealing with.”

Paramedics use preset buttons on the mobile application to quickly provide critical, HIPAA-compliant text information to the hospital. Two-way radios can make it difficult at times to hear audio transmissions from ambulances – especially amid the noise at emergency scenes. Twiage also allows paramedics to send digital texts and pictures from the scene, providing doctors with a clearer assessment from the field.

Hospital teams use that information to save time on preparations and even assign an emergency room location to the deliver the patient. Over time, the hospital also can track data from emergency responses to follow trends and improve service even further. Florida Hospital is the first health care system in the state to implement this new technology.