Hospital’s eCARE Emergency program goes live this week

Back in May, Chase County Community Hospital (CCCH) received a grant for $138,044.
This grant provides funding to connect rural patients to emergency specialists.
The Avera hub trauma center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota helped set up the new system at CCCH, and the Avera eCARE Emergency program and equipment went live Monday morning.
Training for the new equipment took place on Monday and Tuesday for staff and providers.
Avera eCARE Emergency is an innovative program using high definition audio/video equipment linking rural emergency rooms to a live centralized hub of trauma specialists 24/7.
The eCARE Emergency team consists of board certified emergency medicine physicians and experienced emergency nurses.
The CCCH patient care team determines the degree of involvement of the eCARE staff by requesting the type of support they need for each patient.
The two teams of providers and nurses work together to provide the best possible care for a patient.
Vital signs, medication, blood test results, X-rays and CTs can be viewed by the
eCARE Emergency team.
A TV screen is displayed in the emergency room with a corresponding camera on the opposite wall that can scan the entire room, zooming in for close-ups of a patient and their stats, said Deb Hrcka, assistant executive director of the Hospital Foundation.
“The audio is extremely sensitive and picks up every sound in the room,” she said.
Only one patient is usually in the room at a time when using the eCARE system.
There is a second identical system set up in room 24 at the hospital as an additional ER bay, she added.
The eCARE Emergency physicians can make decisions about treatment when the local provider is not yet present because they are licensed in Nebraska, credentialed and privileged at CCCH.
Once the local hospital provider is on site, he or she is in charge of the emergency with eCARE personnel available to consult as needed.
With the push of a button, the eCARE trauma-trained team is immediately accessible for emergency care or peer-to-peer support for the local providers and nurses.
In all instances, the care team is available to respond to emergency issues.
The Avera eCARE Emergency center in Sioux Falls covers 198 rural ER locations in 13 states.