Wireless and Low-Weight Technologies: Advanced Medical Assistance During a Cave Rescue: A Case Report

We describe an advanced medical rescue performed by the Italian Corpo Nazionale del Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico, in which extended focused assessment with sonography for trauma and an ultrasound-guided adductor canal block were performed on a patient with a knee distortion directly in the cave. The rescue team inside the cave shared data on patient monitoring and the ultrasound scanning in real time with rescuers at the entrance, using a video conference powered by the new Ermes system. The use of handheld, battery-powered, low-weight, multiparametric monitors, ultrasound machines, and digital data transmission systems could ensure complete medical assistance in harsh environmental conditions such as those found in a cave.
Source: Wilderness and Environmental Medicine - Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research