News & Events
Formic and Essex Cardiac Network presented with Innovations Award
Formic Ltd., a class-leading provider of automated data capture software, was today presented with the prestigious Innovations Award by the Ambulance Service Institute at a House of Commons award ceremony.
Jon Keating, CEO at Formic and Neil Storey, Emergency Care Practitioner with the Essex Cardiac Network received the award for a mobile solution that enables the pre-hospital treatment of Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI).
Clinical Need and Practice: Summary of NICE 2002 Guidelines
Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is caused by blockage of a coronary artery by a thrombus or clot. The heart muscle supplied by that artery is damaged or dies because of lack of oxygen and patients may develop heart failure or potentially fatal cardiac arrhythmias.
Onset of AMI symptoms is usually sudden and about one-third of all AMI deaths (80,000 people in England and Wales each year) occur within the first hour. Thrombolytic drugs break down the thrombus, restoring blood flow and preventing further damage or death of the heart muscle.
The Mobile Technology Solution
Formic's mobile solution consists of a tablet PC that is pre-loaded with an electronic form. The form captures the patient and call information and responses to a 19-point checklist; each point must be carefully verified before the drug is administered because the treatment carries the risk of inducing stroke in the patient, particularly if the condition is misdiagnosed. The system then automatically checks the drug expiry date and logs the dosage and batch number.
Both the attending paramedic and the clinician receiving the patient at hospital must electronically sign the form to acknowledge that treatment has been administered. A hard copy printout is handed to the receiving clinician and kept with the patient record. The solution allows the ambulance crew to attend multiple incidences without returning to base.
At the end of the shift, all completed forms are downloaded from the tablet PC to the ambulance service network, where analysis of the data by the clinical audit team assists in improving clinical treatment guidelines.
The Formic solution is being piloted with Essex Ambulance Service and the expectation of demand from other UK ambulance services is high.