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IF THIS IS AN EMERGENCY CALL 911

West River Regional Medical Implements eEmergency Technology

 

How eEmergency Works

eEmergency is part of Avera eCARE™, a suite of innovative technology applications developed to improve patient safety and support the rural health care workforce. This innovative service, now available at West River Regional Medical Center, links two-way video equipment in local emergency rooms to emergency-trained physicians at a central hub in Sioux Falls, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This provides immediate support to physician-rendered emergency care in their local community.

“Board-certified emergency medicine physicians take a team approach,” says Dr. Don Kosiak, Avera eCARE Services medical director. “It is best when one of us does the critical thinking and one of us is doing, so eEmergency is a play out of this team approach in the rural setting,” Dr. Kosiak explains, noting the access it gives rural providers, who often practice alone, to a consult on request.

Helping Patients and Families

Some of the ways eEmergency supports patient care in the local community include:

1.Supporting activation of emergency transport teams as early as possible, saving seconds

2.Providing support when the local facility experiences multiple emergency cases at once

3.Reducing unnecessary transfers

4.Assuring patients’ families unnecessary travel.

“eEmergency gives us the ability to extend and enhance the services of our medical providers and thereby the levels of health care in our community,” says Jim Long, administrator. “It elevates the number of professionals available to support in our Emergency Department to where we are able to give better care in our community and keep patients here because we have a great team standing right beside us at all times – at our fingertips when we need them.”

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About Avera

Avera Health is the leading health system in the region providing high-quality care close to home at 297 locations in 95 communities. Avera’s unique partnership model makes possible a wide range of medical services through the expertise of specialists, sophisticated technology and cutting-edge research to meet the health care needs of local communities and providers.

9/28/2011

For more information, sample newsletters or to get on our mailing list contact:

        Community Relations
        West River Regional Medical Center
        1000 Highway 12
        Hettinger, ND 58639-753

 

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