Functional characteristics of the telemedical network for the medical service of the Bundeswehr for support of operations outside Germany and civil-military co-operation
Otto, C.; Bolte, M.; Linneweber, F.; Weber, T.
Studies in Health Technology and Informatics 64: 270-274
1999
ISSN/ISBN: 0926-9630 PMID: 10747548 Document Number: 509919
The maxim governing the accomplishment of medical tasks by the Medical Service of the Bundeswehr stipulates that the soldiers will, in case of illness, accident or injury, receive medical treatment to the standard they can expect in the Federal Republic of Germany. In this context the introduction of telemedical applications into the Medical Service will improve the quality of the medical care through better and faster access for the medical officer assigned to a unit or a ship for requesting support to expert knowledge from military facilities or the civilian sector. The telemedical system is based on a high-class commercial PC. This workstation can be extended as needed with medical devices (x-ray film digitizer, dermatoscope, otoscope) and allows linkage to other imaging methods (e.g., videocamera, ultrasound). Currently this system is under evaluation in a multi centre trial. The participants of this telemedical network communicate via EURO ISDN lines with sufficient bandwidth. If terrestrial lines are not available the communication will be based on satellite capacity. The application of internet-technology additionally provides access to medical data bases respectively allows civil-military co-operation and the interoperability between medical services of allied armed forces. This future-orientated telemedical approach with its modular upwards-compatibility will provide, especially in its mobile version and by using communication standards, the possibility to support necessary civil-military co-operation in the area of disaster relief and missions outside of Germany in the future.