TETRA used in hospitals to save time

– and lives

Alerting medical staff as a

group saves vital minutes in

the race to save lives.

The North Karelia hospital's

trauma alert group helps its most

critical patients by reducing the

time it takes to assemble a team

to care for them.

When hospital administrators

realised that staff wouldn't be

able to use the radios in a crisis if

they didn't use them day-to-day,

they decided to make a change.

In 2008, the hospital put two

employees in charge of training

the others.

And now, VIRVE TETRA network

communications are part of the

hospital's standard operating

procedure.

Challenge

Before VIRVE, it could take as

long as 20 minutes to call

everyone individually on a cell

phone. Now the trauma group

alerts everyone at once.

Solution

• Plan emergency response.

• Save time. VIRVE TETRA

network communications also

help the hospital run more

efficiently.

• Boost security. VIRVE has

also helped improve

information security and

confidentiality at the hospital.

• Improve communications.

At least one patient a week

generates a trauma alert. So the

VIRVE alert alone saves dozens

of lives a year.

"This is a huge saving of time,"

says Jari Hirvonen from the

department of emergency

medicine. "More than

one-quarter of patients arriving

at this hospital require attention

within 30 minutes, so it can

mean the difference between

life and death."

"I've seen lives saved

thanks to this," Hirvonen says.

The network

VIRVE network is the world's

first nationwide TETRA

technology based radio

telephone network. It was

introduced for nationwide use in

2002. There are around 40,000

users in VIRVE network.

Babies in Finland’s North Karelia hospital now have a better

chance of a healthy life thanks to two new alarms that bring

medical staff running.

Emergency Cesarean Section alert

The Emergency Cesarean Section alert is set off around 26

times a year, and it alerts medical staff to be ready to perform

a potentially life-saving delivery. Saving a vital three minutes

by alerting all necessary staff at the same time, it means less

time without oxygen for the unborn baby.

Baby revive alert

There is also a ”baby revive alert,” an alarm set off when a

newborn needs to be resuscitated. Used about once a week,

this alert ensures that the necessary people are notified,

saving the time taken for individual calls.

Both these alarms are made over the country’s VIRVE

network, which also handles more general incidents through

alarm calls. When an incident occurs, the local emergency

response center sends a message to the medical unit at the

same time as alerting the rescue service. The hospital is told

how many patients are coming in and what their vital signs

are, for instance.

This means that everyone is ready to get to work as soon as

the patients arrive at the hospital. The X-ray room is ready

and the laboratory is primed to process any samples, while

blood bank nurses know to reserve the right type and number

units of blood for each patient.

With everything ready and waiting, they can begin treatment

as soon as the patients arrive. Before VIRVE, it could take as

long as 20 minutes to call everyone individually on a cell

phone. Now the trauma group alerts everyone at once.

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New alerts quickly call medics to the rescue

Alerting medical staff as a group saves vital minutes

in the race to save a new life

For more information please contact

Airbus Defence and Space / Hiomotie 32 / 00380 Helsinki / Finland / T: +358 10 40 80 000 / e-mail: airbus-ds-marketing@airbus.com

Airbus Defence and Space / Wörthstraße 85 / 89077 Ulm / Germany / T: +49 (0) 731.392-0

Airbus Defence and Space / MetaPole / 1, bld Jean Moulin / CS 40001 / 78996 Elancourt Cedex / France / T: +33 (0)1 61 38 50 00

”The Emergency Cesarean

Section alert saves time in

the most critical situation”.

- Mari Juuti, Deputy Chief,

Peadiatric Dept.