User Acceptance as a Key to Success for the Implementation of a Telematic Support System in German Emergency Medical Services

The German research project Med-on-@ix aims at optimising the efficiency and quality of preclinical emergency health care by introducing a telematic rescue assistance system into the emergency system. The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) will be supported on site by the virtual presence of a specialised physician in a remote Competence Centre. The transmission of vital parameters, auscultation signs and video material from the emergency site to the Competence Centre by a telematic support system enables a better and quicker treatment – especially in the 14,3% of emergency cases, in which the manual skills of a physician are not necessary on site [GHM03]. The interdisciplinary team of emergency physicians, university scientists and developers of industrial enterprises realised two simulation studies in September 2008 and June 2009 to evaluate the acceptance of the system by doctors and paramedics. Different emergency scenarios involving simulation manikins and actors provide an adequate basis to ascertain the critical factors and the level of acceptance within the target groups. The performance of simulation studies based on defined rescue scenarios and combined, with detailed user interviews constituted, a keystone within the user oriented development process, reflecting the effect of introducing the system into rescue working routines and the related user requirements. First results revealed that 89,6% of the probands consider the telematic system as reasonable. The impact of the systems on the rescue procedures, the teamwork and especially the communication processes within the team and with the patient was also analysed within those studies. The results will be path breaking for the first system implementation during the field trial in the rescue service of Aachen starting in autumn 2009.