Themis Telemedical Communication Platform

The Themis Telemedical Communication Platform (TCP) is a case management system that provides the capability for recording all medical information of an incident, including measuring vital signs and in real-time, transmitting the information to an onshore Control Room. The purpose of the system is to provide full availability of all information regarding a casualty, including physiological parameters and medical background, to the advising Doctor.

This will ensure the Doctor has all relevant information to hand, to aid diagnosis and advice given to the client.

The Themis TCP is completely integral to telemedical support offshore but can equally be used in remote locations on land, and on aircraft. The only requirement for usual operation is internet access, although it can operate independently offline.

The core of the system on the client vessel is a robust control tablet, upon which runs a dedicated database, containing all specific medical data for the client. This is fully individualised for the client, and data input is under the control of the medical officer on board. Crew and Guest data can be pre-loaded, or entered at the time of an incident.

The tablet provides the control and recording system for the devices used for measuring vital signs of the casualty. All devices are wireless, communicating via Bluetooth interfaces. The devices synchronise automatically with the control tablet, once a ‘medical incident’ is either activated for the first time, or a previously suspended incident is re-activated. When a medical incident is ‘active’, the tablet displays a dashboard, incorporating all latest vital sign measurements, together with graphs of trends for measured parameters over time.

Once an incident is activated, there are screens for inputting incident details, and also screens displaying the advice given by the onshore advising Doctor.

The control tablet on the client vessel communicates automatically with a shore-based Control Room monitor, once a medical incident is activated. The Control Room monitor incorporates a similar dashboard system to that mounted on the control tablet, displaying all parameters in near real-time for the advising Doctor.

The central monitor and control tablet enables two-way communication between the advising Doctor and the client vessel by direct text, email, fixed image, voice and live video.

Operation of the unit is reasonably intuitive and straightforward. However, in an emergency, familiarity of use is essential to ensure information is transmitted to shore with minimum delay. A one-day training course is sufficient to provide a good basis of understanding to the medical officer and crew, on pre-installing medical details on to the unit, and operation in the event of a medical incident.