Three years of tele-emergency medicine with mobile on-site audio-video streaming in lower Saxony, Germany – descriptive results of a longitudinal secondary data analysis
Abstract Background Pre-hospital emergency medicine has been facing major challenges for several years due to increasing numbers of emergency calls, limited personnel resources and difficulties in staffing. A tele-emergency physician system provides immediate on-site emergency medical assistance and...
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| Language: | English |
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BMC
2025-07-01
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| Series: | BMC Emergency Medicine |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12873-025-01286-w |
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| author | Johanna Sophie Lubasch Insa Seeger Thomas Marian Tobias Steffen Friederike Schlingloff |
| author_facet | Johanna Sophie Lubasch Insa Seeger Thomas Marian Tobias Steffen Friederike Schlingloff |
| author_sort | Johanna Sophie Lubasch |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Pre-hospital emergency medicine has been facing major challenges for several years due to increasing numbers of emergency calls, limited personnel resources and difficulties in staffing. A tele-emergency physician system provides immediate on-site emergency medical assistance and can support and guide emergency service personnel directly, thereby promoting the optimal use of available resources. Since January 2021, tele-emergency physicians have been deployed as part of a pilot project in the Goslar district in Lower Saxony, Germany. The aim of this study was to conduct a descriptive analysis of changes in on-site emergency physician missions and tele-emergency physician missions between 2021 and 2023. Methods To address this research question, a retrospective secondary data analysis of mission protocols was conducted. After data preparation, a descriptive data analysis was performed. Correlation analyses were conducted to compare on-site emergency physician missions and tele-emergency physician missions. Additionally, a technology questionnaire was completed by the tele-emergency physicians after every mission over a period of one and a half years and descriptively analysed to assess connection interruptions during tele-emergency physician missions. Results From 2021 to 2023, annual on-site emergency physician missions decreased from 5210 to 3623, and tele-emergency physician missions declined from 1632 to 1066. In terms of mission and treatment durations, there was a statistically significant difference between on-site emergency physician and tele-emergency physician missions across all three years. Between 1 May 2022 and 31 October 2023, 3.3% of tele-emergency physician missions were interrupted. Conclusion The findings from this pilot project confirm existing data from other studies and demonstrate that tele-emergency physician systems are an efficient resource in pre-hospital emergency medical services. They relieve emergency physicians in low-priority cases and, after an initial learning curve, from higher-priority cases as well. Furthermore, tele-emergency physicians can be deployed across all diagnostic categories. Clinical trial number Not applicable – secondary data analysis. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-cee275ac0acd4ba6879dc0bf1e92cee1 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1471-227X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Emergency Medicine |
| spelling | doaj-art-cee275ac0acd4ba6879dc0bf1e92cee12025-08-20T03:04:26ZengBMCBMC Emergency Medicine1471-227X2025-07-0125111110.1186/s12873-025-01286-wThree years of tele-emergency medicine with mobile on-site audio-video streaming in lower Saxony, Germany – descriptive results of a longitudinal secondary data analysisJohanna Sophie Lubasch0Insa Seeger1Thomas Marian2Tobias Steffen3Friederike Schlingloff4Research Network Emergency and Intensive Care Medicine, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky Universität OldenburgResearch Network Emergency and Intensive Care Medicine, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky Universität OldenburgDistrict of Goslar, Emergency Rescue ServicesDistrict of Goslar, Emergency Rescue ServicesDistrict of Goslar, Emergency Rescue ServicesAbstract Background Pre-hospital emergency medicine has been facing major challenges for several years due to increasing numbers of emergency calls, limited personnel resources and difficulties in staffing. A tele-emergency physician system provides immediate on-site emergency medical assistance and can support and guide emergency service personnel directly, thereby promoting the optimal use of available resources. Since January 2021, tele-emergency physicians have been deployed as part of a pilot project in the Goslar district in Lower Saxony, Germany. The aim of this study was to conduct a descriptive analysis of changes in on-site emergency physician missions and tele-emergency physician missions between 2021 and 2023. Methods To address this research question, a retrospective secondary data analysis of mission protocols was conducted. After data preparation, a descriptive data analysis was performed. Correlation analyses were conducted to compare on-site emergency physician missions and tele-emergency physician missions. Additionally, a technology questionnaire was completed by the tele-emergency physicians after every mission over a period of one and a half years and descriptively analysed to assess connection interruptions during tele-emergency physician missions. Results From 2021 to 2023, annual on-site emergency physician missions decreased from 5210 to 3623, and tele-emergency physician missions declined from 1632 to 1066. In terms of mission and treatment durations, there was a statistically significant difference between on-site emergency physician and tele-emergency physician missions across all three years. Between 1 May 2022 and 31 October 2023, 3.3% of tele-emergency physician missions were interrupted. Conclusion The findings from this pilot project confirm existing data from other studies and demonstrate that tele-emergency physician systems are an efficient resource in pre-hospital emergency medical services. They relieve emergency physicians in low-priority cases and, after an initial learning curve, from higher-priority cases as well. Furthermore, tele-emergency physicians can be deployed across all diagnostic categories. Clinical trial number Not applicable – secondary data analysis.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12873-025-01286-wPre-hospital emergency medicineTelemedicineTele-emergency physicianEmergency medical servicesSecondary data analysisImplementation |
| spellingShingle | Johanna Sophie Lubasch Insa Seeger Thomas Marian Tobias Steffen Friederike Schlingloff Three years of tele-emergency medicine with mobile on-site audio-video streaming in lower Saxony, Germany – descriptive results of a longitudinal secondary data analysis BMC Emergency Medicine Pre-hospital emergency medicine Telemedicine Tele-emergency physician Emergency medical services Secondary data analysis Implementation |
| title | Three years of tele-emergency medicine with mobile on-site audio-video streaming in lower Saxony, Germany – descriptive results of a longitudinal secondary data analysis |
| title_full | Three years of tele-emergency medicine with mobile on-site audio-video streaming in lower Saxony, Germany – descriptive results of a longitudinal secondary data analysis |
| title_fullStr | Three years of tele-emergency medicine with mobile on-site audio-video streaming in lower Saxony, Germany – descriptive results of a longitudinal secondary data analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Three years of tele-emergency medicine with mobile on-site audio-video streaming in lower Saxony, Germany – descriptive results of a longitudinal secondary data analysis |
| title_short | Three years of tele-emergency medicine with mobile on-site audio-video streaming in lower Saxony, Germany – descriptive results of a longitudinal secondary data analysis |
| title_sort | three years of tele emergency medicine with mobile on site audio video streaming in lower saxony germany descriptive results of a longitudinal secondary data analysis |
| topic | Pre-hospital emergency medicine Telemedicine Tele-emergency physician Emergency medical services Secondary data analysis Implementation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12873-025-01286-w |
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