Crispy. I used to have a boss that would use this word to describe her/me/us when we were getting a little "burned out". She would use this word to describe our mood and demeanor in the hospital when we could not take one more question, comment, concern, or complaint without the accompanying eye roll. Today, I recognize that I am crispy.
I am not burned out. I have a passion for rural STEMI care that is unwavering. What is wavering, is the belief that we will ever (simply) be able to get the EKG from Machine A, Machine B, and Machine C to ever filter through one (simple) "system" at the local hospital. You see, I am having a "dickens" of a time (cleanest word I could come up with) in understanding why my new iPhone 4 can do all but make me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (although Siri can GPS me to the grocery store, make my list, and then get me a YouTube video to walk me through the steps of making the PBJ)-yet I cannot help a local paramedic in a predominately BLS/volunteer/rural environment get his 12 lead EKG from point A to Point B (small Critical Access Hospital) and then (simply) pushed forward the 200 miles to Point C (the STEMI Receiving center) without utilizing technology that Zach Morris would have used at the Peach Pit on Saved by the Bell. (On a side note, If I have to listen to one more medical device sales person tell me of their significant other "scratching the Lexus", I am going to puke. On their shoes. And not apologize.) Apparently I am crispy on that topic as well. I have alot of time to think while I'm cruising around in the Mom Bomb (the Impala with 150,000 miles on it) trying to figure out STEMI care in our state.
Yes people, I am crispy. I am Kentucky Fried, crispy sick of the corporate entities that are driving (or stalling) STEMI care in the world. Every day I ask Steve Jobs for a message from the grave. For if anyone can solve this problem, I remain convinced that a 19 year old intern at Apple can come up with a way that a 12 lead EKG can (simply) be sent to where ever I want to send it no matter what brand of monitor I purchased- without the equivalent investment of a college degree. My new friend Tom Bouthillet at
ems12lead.com summed it up quite well recently. He told a story of buying a toaster. You see, whether we buy a $9 toaster on Black Friday or a $90 toaster at Macy's, I can bring it home, set it on my counter and plug it in. The beauty is that it will work in my outlet. The outlet doesn't care what brand the toaster is, or where we bought it. It is just simply there as a universal adapter to supply it power. Interesting concept, huh? Too bad our own world of Medicine cannot do the same thing.
With that being said, I am going to be taking a little time off. By January 2nd, I promise to come back energized and enthused about finding a solution for this problem. I also have a new saying “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.” ― Dr. Seuss. With that being said, I look forward to the upcoming year and all of the adventures it will bring. I look back on the past year and realize how much my life has changed. I am thankful for the people I have met- those that want to change the world as much as I do, and those that remind me when I am crispy. Merry Christmas folks!
Philips took a nice first step with an Open Source ECG format. However, they don't tell you how to read the 12-Leads. I've gone ahead and taken care of that step, but as of now that's the only monitor I have access to which I can send ECG's to a machine in my control. I plan on having a proof of concept transmission setup here shortly which could be used by anybody who so chooses.
ReplyDeleteI must say though that I find your iPhone analogy a bit funny though, considering ECG machines share the same Walled Garden philosophy used by Apple (as I shamelessly sit and write this on my MacBook Pro).
Basically, until the transmission protocols and storage formats are standardized, open source, and unencumbered by patents, you won't see this happen anytime soon, unfortunately.
If the manufacturers Can make transmitting a 12 lead As easy as opening a facebook app on your smartphone And transmitting it over a secure wireless network The patient's may have a better outcome the first time I tried to transmit a 12 lead it took me 5 minutes to do so under the direction of a paramedic with a machine that I was not familiar operating with
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