Airtel, Apollo Hospitals, Cisco partner to create 5G connected ambulance

Bharti Airtel has now collaborated with the Cisco and Apollo Hospitals to create a 5G connected Ambulance, which was demonstrated in Bangalore over the 5G trial spectrum allotted to Airtel by the government.

The custom-designed state-of-the-art 5G connected Ambulance is highly equipped with the latest medical equipment, telemetry devices, and patient monitoring system that transmit the patient's health data to the hospital in a real-time scenario.

Ajay Chitkara, Director & CEO, Airtel Business, Bharti Airtel, said, "5G is a transformational technology, and this is yet another demonstration by Airtel as to how collaborations can unlock the potential of digital platforms for the good of humanity. Healthcare is one of the most promising use cases for 5G, and we are delighted to deepen our partnerships with Apollo Hospitals and Cisco to bring some innovative use cases for the Indian market."

Dr. Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group, said, "Apollo Hospitals have been evangelists of connected ambulances and using these to reduce mortality and utilize the Golden Hour to the benefit of patients. The criticality of the 'Golden hour' is well known. It can mean the difference between life and death for seriously ill or trauma patients in an emergency. The Golden hour is impacted by the facilities in an ambulance and the distance from the Hospital. Studies show that an increased journey distance to the Hospital is associated with an increased risk of mortality, with a 10‐km increase in straight‐line distance associated with around a 1% absolute increase in mortality. Studies also indicate that pre-hospital time management should become a management objective. These insights propelled us to collaborate with Airtel on the 5G connected ambulance project and use 5G in order to utilize the disruption-free, lag-free connectivity it provides."

It is also equipped with the onboard camera, bodycams, and camera-based headgear for the paramedic staff – all connected to the ultra-fast and low latency Airtel 5G network. It will be further enabled with technologies like VR and AR.

At the time when a critical patient is en route to the hospital and every second makes a difference, the 5G connected Ambulance acts as an extension of the emergency room.

The high-speed, low latency 5G network relays the geolocation of each and every ambulance to the hospital command center to make sure the nearest ambulance reaches the critical patients to save the patient's golden hour time.

With a real-time camera feed available, the paramedics in an ambulance can use the cameras to partner with the ER doctors at the hospital, who are equipped with the latest technologies like VR/AR, to undertake some of the basic processes if necessary. The doctors can also virtually guide the paramedic to carry out the process and save precious lives.