Where is Wearable Technology Heading?

This post is from an invited guest blogger. Andrew Randazzo is the Director of Prime Medical Training and is a Nationally Registered Paramedic. Aside from teaching, Andrew’s faith and church play a big role in his life, and he also enjoys backpacking, scuba diving, competing in triathlons, and international travel.

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Disclaimer: I am not being compensated in any way for any of the products I talk about in this article.

I find that when people learn about EMS and all the tools we have at our disposal, they are surprised. Even those who are in the healthcare field are surprised, or perhaps just ignorant, about what our monitors are capable of measuring. It may be because so many other facilities have multiple pieces of equipment that do what our one monitor can do.

Now imagine that one monitor being out of date. That’s right, the good ole LifePak 15s and Zoll Xs need to say hello to the Visi Mobile. The Visi is a all-in-one monitor that you wear on your wrist. Not only does it do all your vital signs including respiratory rate, it can also do EKGs.

What I find the coolest about the Visi is the built in accelerometer that detects what position you are in in bed, if you’ve been walking around, fallen, etc. That feature alone makes it invaluable for hospitals and nursing homes.

Another breakthrough is Continuous Non-Invasive Blood Pressure. What you do is put a normal BP cuff on the patient that takes their initial BP. Then you can take the cuff off and the Visi is able to measure subsequent blood pressures without the cuff being on the patient.

Everything that is monitored can also be transmitted wirelessly and displayed at the nurse’s station in real-time. The Visi Mobile reduces injuries for the patients first of all, but it also allows more people to be moved to less intensive floors (which frees up beds) due the fact that the patients need less 1-1 monitoring.

By the way, I almost forgot to mention this device costs a few hundred in comparison to the thousands you have to spend on current monitors.

The company also plans in the future to expand, to allow monitoring patients post-discharge, in order to avoid hospital re-admission.

This is the wave of the future. I’m excited to see it coming and what else is out there. What are your thoughts on the Visi Mobile or other things you see coming? Please comment as a reply below.

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