Health Experts Reveal Life-Saving Technology Is Transforming Emergency Care In The UAE And Globally

Advancements in digital health are enabling emergency care providers to treat patients more quickly and efficiently, significantly improving health outcomes for patients around the world, according to experts at Arab Health.

Speaking on the opening day of Arab Health 2023, Dr. Rasha Buhumaid, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, shared insights into the latest innovations that are bringing the hospital to the patient. The key areas highlighted by Dr. Buhumaid included Artificial Intelligence (AI), health Apps, video games, portable point-of-care diagnostic devices and medical drones, all of which are reducing the time taken to reach patients as well as providing greater access to health data and information.

Dr. Buhumaid said, “In emergency medicine, time is of the essence. We have that golden hour – but sometimes seconds or minutes when our response to the patient is vital. New technologies are perhaps having more of a transformative effect in the emergency care sector than other areas of healthcare.”

In the AI space, patient care technologies such as Hexagon use digital maps to allocate where a patient’s pre-hospital care should be, increasing healthcare accuracy and delivery. Other areas where AI is proving invaluable are in cardiology, with an AI tool that detects heart disease in 20 seconds – a process that would normally take 13 minutes – being showcased by the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) at Arab Health 2023. In addition, portable point-of-care diagnostic devices such as ECG’s mean that patients can send data to their doctor before they enter the Emergency Room.

Commenting on the role of technology in emergency care, Ross Williams, Exhibition Director for Informa Markets, said, “Innovation is under the spotlight at Arab Health 2023 and new technologies are a game changer for delivering vital treatment to patients in emergency situations. The event is bringing together visionaries from around the world that are at the forefront of these life-saving technologies.”

“The fastest growing and most accessible area for healthcare technology is in apps, which provide invaluable and increasingly accurate patient data. Apps are also playing an important role in education with point of care app Air Fx for example, providing information and guidelines for physicians, whatever their area of specialism, on how to respond to in-flight medical emergencies.”

Other areas of importance include transportation and logistics, which can often present significant challenges to emergency care, and the latest innovations in healthcare technology are also offering essential solutions in this area. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when social distancing was an important consideration, governments implemented drones to deliver medications, PPE and blood products. Drones have also been used to deliver Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) devices more quickly, saving more lives of those suffering from cardiac arrest.

Technologies are also enabling emergency care providers to be better equipped for emergency situations before they happen, with video games enabling them to practice rare procedures. Dr. Buhumaid concluded, “There will always be a place for the physical space of the emergency room, but technology brings emergency medicine outside the hospital in a timely manner and we are excited to see where this leads.“