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Project Brief

The Virtual Trauma and Critical Care Unit project will provide support for local regional doctors, in smaller towns, dealing with trauma or specialist cases, by linking them via video conferencing and super fast broadband equipment, with trauma and critical care specialists at Melbourne’s Alfred, Austin, St Vincent’s and Royal Children’s hospitals.

The project is an expansion of an existing telephone service already provided to regional doctors by metropolitan specialists.

The video conferencing equipment incorporating broadband technology is set up by the bed of a critically ill patient in a regional hospital. It is able to immediately send the patient’s vital signs, clinical test results and x-rays direct to waiting trauma specialists in Melbourne. The specialist can see the patient’s condition live via a video session and review the patient’s vital signs. They are then able to offer expert treatment advice on the care of that patient.

This will allow quicker decisions on the right treatment for the patient and also determine if they can stay in their local hospital or need to be sent on to a larger hospital in Melbourne or Bendigo.

Bendigo Health will be the primary referral site in the region for smaller hospitals, however all hospitals, including Bendigo will also be able to receive advice from those participating metropolitan hospitals.

Adult Retrieval Victoria will be the initial contact point for all regional hospitals. They will assess and determine the best metropolitan hospital for the patient’s care. This will also result in a reduction of the time taken to organise the retrieval service.