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PLAINS TWP. — It was a performance worthy of a daytime Emmy nomination.

Mr. Jones went into tachycardia in the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center ICU. With no doctor on the floor, Registered Nurse Mary Sabol flipped the clear plastic cover to access the giant red button — yes, it was really red.

A wall-mounted camera rotated to face the patient, a screen lit up, and from 560 miles away Dr. Amy Rohs asked how she could help.

Standing in the Cincinnati VA Medical Center, Rohs could read all the vitals being measured on the patient in Plains Township bed, chat real time with Sabol and send orders for intravenous injections, lab tests and most other actions a physician in the room could have done.

Mr. Jones’ heart rate slowed by the time Dr. Mark Scinico arrived and put stethoscope to chest.

A few nurses outside the ICU room clapped hands silently, presumably in deference to all the other ICU patients. The setting was real, even if the incident was staged to demonstrate the new Tele-ICU system at the local medical center, officially brought online Tuesday afternoon.

“It gives us remote access to the experts in Cincinnati,” Scinico said. “It is an added level of expertise and another set of eyes for our evaluations.”

The local staff marked the Tele-ICU first by exchanging thanks and congratulations with the people in Cincinnati visible on the screen. Then also staged the simulation to show how it works. All the “actors” were real doctors and nurses, save the patient. “Mr. Jones” was played with stoic silence by “Simulation Man,” a high-tech, eye-blinking, chest-heaving mannequin who spoke only once.

As Scinico and Chief of Staff Mirza Ali explained the system prior to bringing it online, Sim Man groaned, “I don’t feel well,” clearly ahead of cue.

No one had accessed his computer chip yet to give him the anticipated case of microprocessor-induced tachycardia. (Don’t worry, it can’t be spread to real humans, at least not yet).

Ali noted such remote access set-ups are becoming common in both private and public facilities.

In this case, each ICU room has a screen mounted opposite the patient bed with a ball-shaped camera above it. When not in use, the camera rotates to point up and toward the wall. Press the red button and the lens swivels toward the patient, adjusting back and forth as necessary to see the person in the bed and the staff around it.

Sounding a bit too big-brother-y? Scinico stressed that, while all the rooms had the equipment, the patient had the option of refusing to be monitored remotely.

Ali said the technology can’t replace staff on the floor, but can supplement it. It can alleviate a shortage of doctors specializing in intensive care by helping a patient waiting for the local doctor to get there.

Ali also noted some larger hospitals like the one in Cincinnati have more experience with a specific disease or condition and thus can help the local doctor with that knowledge.

“The veteran gets the benefit of that expertise literally at the push of a button,” Ali said.

Registered Nurse Mary Sabol at the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center participates in a simulation demonstrating Tele-Intensive Care Unit system brought online Tuesday. Each ICU room at the local center has remote access to doctors at the VA Medical Center in Cincinnati.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_TTL071515teleicu.jpg.optimal.jpgRegistered Nurse Mary Sabol at the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center participates in a simulation demonstrating Tele-Intensive Care Unit system brought online Tuesday. Each ICU room at the local center has remote access to doctors at the VA Medical Center in Cincinnati. Clark Van Orden | Times Leader

By Mark Guydish

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Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish