‘First Responder’ takes its first flight
In March, the Royal Flying Doctor Service hosted a team from EMVision as they introduced the First Responder scanner to staff and visitors from SA Health’s Rural Support Service and the SA Ambulance Service.
Heroic neurologist Dr Craig Kurunawai was there, straight from night shift, and there was great interest from RFDS staff who lined up for a safe, electromagnetic scan.
In a major milestone for the Golden Hour program, the proof-of-concept device was taken to the skies in an RFDS aircraft to Port Augusta, Marla, Maree and Olympic Dam.
It was an extremely valuable opportunity for the team to deploy the scanner in the real use environment alongside our RFDS colleagues. It also gave us the opportunity to see how our scanner tolerates flight conditions, varying temperatures, environments of use and storage. The team did not take it easy on the scanner! It survived and thrived.
The scanner behaved as designed and the healthy volunteer scans were successful.
We thank the RFDS and especially the leadership of Dr Zoe Schofield, the research strategic projects manager, for their valued guidance of our first aeromedical trial.
Next up: ethics approval for the First Responder so it can be tested in an RFDS usability study when the device will be handed to the RFDS staff to enrol aeromedical patients.