On 28 May 2020, executives of four organizations including NSTDA, the National Institute for Emergency Medicine, TOT Public Company Limited and Kasetsart University met to celebrate the signing of a MOU to implement digital emergency medical services in Thailand. The executives and honorary guests included Dr. Narong Sirilertworakul, NSTDA President, Flt. Lt. Atchariya Pangma, Secretary General of the National Institute for Emergency Medicine, Gp. Capt. Somsak Khaosuwan, Board Chairman of TOT Public Company Limited, Mr. Pipat Khanthong, Board Member of TOT Public Company Limited and Dr. Putchong Uthayopas, Vice President for Information Technology, Kasetsart University.
The project will cover two aspects of digital emergency medical services, namely the digital call center for emergency medical services and an emergency telemedical direction. The present 1699 call center for emergency medical services is an analog system, which can only take voice calls from users; whereas a digital 1699 will enable “Total Conversation”, in which users can communicate with call center staff via voice, photo and video clip supported by a cloud system. Digital 1699 call center is also linked with IoT device thus senior people, the disabled and foreigners can also place the call.
Another aspect of the project is the implementation of emergency telemedicine direction by employing a cloud platform for storing and managing medical information and enabling the rescue team to access patient records and provide proper primary aid. Medical equipment in ambulances is connected to the cloud platform, enabling physicians at the hospital to assess patient’s health condition real-time and remotely guide medical rescue team to provide necessary primary treatment while patients are being transported to the hospital.
Pilot project of digital emergency medical services has been implemented in Ubon Ratchathani province by the four parties in 2015. This project will see the expansion of digital emergency medical services to cover 60 provinces within 3 years.