Let’s Hear from Our Devices | MEDUCORE Standard²

A life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia or cardiac arrest with ventricular fibrillation are emergencies where every second counts. As organs are no longer being supplied with vital oxygen, the chances of survival fall by the minute. 

Patients must be given help as fast as possible. Our MEDUCORE Standard² monitor/defibrillator safely guides users through resuscitation with voice prompts and a metronome. You can discover what else it can do and why it finds digital evaluation of patient data important in the second part of our series “Let’s hear from our devices”.

Hi MEDUCORE Standard²! Could you tell us how you assist your colleagues from the emergency medical services?

That always depends on how my colleagues need me in their work. How I assist them ranges from defibrillation and cardioversion through patient monitoring to extended ECG diagnostics. Where shock delivery is concerned, I have two modes for the emergency medical services to choose from: AED mode and manual mode. With my integrated 6-lead ECG and automatic NIBP measurement I am able to monitor patients. The 12-lead ECG enables emergency personnel on site to identify heart attacks and other life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias.

How did you help on your last session?

We received an emergency call from an older man, who was complaining of chest pain, nausea and shortness of breath. Further ECG diagnostics was required here, and I was standing by to help. The patient was fitted with my ECG electrodes, the NIBP cuff and the pulse oximetry sensor. On application of the 12-lead ECG, I help my colleagues by showing them the positioning and indicating whether the electrodes are connected. 

Subsequent evaluation by these colleagues pointed to the patient having had a heart attack. To be absolutely sure of this, I e-mailed the ECG directly to the hospital, who confirmed our suspicions within a matter of minutes. And things then suddenly moved very fast: the man required resuscitation. My colleagues at once initiated life-saving measures, and I was able to help save the man’s life through shock delivery.

How did EMS manage to evaluate the recorded ECG so quickly?

During this session my colleagues viewed the ECG via the display and assessed it with the help of a remote emergency doctor. That’s really simple with the display: Emergency personnel can switch between the leads at the touch of a button or adapt the ECG curves in their displayed amplitude and feed rate. To get a second opinion – in this case from the destination hospital – they simply sent off the 12-lead ECG they recorded by e-mail. The benefit here was that the specialist staff at the hospital were able to perform ECG diagnostics even before the patient arrived and had already prepared the cardiac catheterization lab. This meant our patient received the best possible care immediately after arrival at the hospital.

You said there are two possible modes for shock delivery. What’s the difference here?

AED mode is a user-friendly mode with automatic evaluation of the ECG. Whenever I detect ventricular fibrillation, all the emergency medical services then need to do is press the shock button. I safely guide the user through CPR with the help of voice prompts and a metronome. Manual mode is reserved for experienced emergency personnel: Here the shock energy and the time when it is delivered is controlled manually. In this case the user must evaluate the ECG beforehand. I however still help a bit here by giving an alarm if I identify ventricular fibrillation in the ECG.

And is there anything you’re especially proud of?

I’m glad I can remember all measured values and ECGs. It’s not only important to rescue and transport patients safely, but also to record their session data. I do this automatically as soon as I’m switched on. The emergency personnel can send the recorded session data to an electronic patient documentation system using the Bluetooth® data transmission feature. Or upload the data to WEINMANN Connect via WiFi.

What is WEINMANN Connect?

WEINMANN Connect is a new web portal from WEINMANN Emergency that allows me to connect digitally. I can then send it all my session data for central storage there. Staff don’t just keep the session data there, but also have an overview of the time and result of the last function check.

That sounds practical. We now have one final question for you: What makes you indispensable to the emergency medical services?

I make saving human lives as easy as possible. With clear instructions displayed on the device I guide the emergency medical services through resuscitation according to the guidelines. I am aware that what counts with CPR is speed, and my operating concept is geared to that. Thanks to preconfigured settings for different patient groups, shock energy is directly adjusted to optimum effect.