CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cincinnati’s first responders soon will have access to the most advanced technology to bring lifesaving telemetry to victims of accidents and mass-casualty events across the city thanks to a gift from Western & Southern Financial Group.
With a grant to the Cincinnati Fire Foundation, Western & Southern is bringing battlefield medical technology to Cincinnatians involved in accidents and other emergency medical situations throughout the city. Western & Southern will provide for four Tempus Pro advanced monitoring devices to be deployed directly to incident scenes. Tempus Pro allows first responders to share not only standard medical data but even life-feed video with emergency physicians at hospitals in the region. Western & Southern is primarily known as a life insurance company.
“Cincinnati EMTs and paramedics are some of the most highly trained and disciplined professionals in their field,” said John Barrett, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Western & Southern Financial Group. “We’re proud of them and the contribution they make to our city and very pleased to help give them access to the tools that protect all of us.”
Tempus Pro, developed by RDT Ltd. of the U.K., is a new concept in remotely monitoring emergency patients. First deployed by U.K. forces, it was quickly adopted by U.S. forces serving in conflicts in southwest Asia. In addition to the added functionality, the new equipment weighs about a third of the multiple components it replaces. It also combines multiple system checks and charges into a single plug-and-run unit.
University Hospital’s Dr. Jay A. Johannigman, MD was instrumental in bringing this lifesaving technology to the Queen City. While serving in the U.S. armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, Dr. Johannigman saw first-hand how real-time vital statistics can make the difference between life and death in the crucial moments after an incident.
“Essentially this gives the attending physician eyes and ears right at the scene. That accurate and timely information is essential to giving patients the highest level of care,” said Dr. Johannigman. “I’ve seen firsthand how this technology saves lives and I know it will save more in Cincinnati.”
Tempus Pro is a highly functional and ruggedized vital sign monitor that places the needs of the first responder at the heart of its design. It is light enough to carry to a patient in almost any situation, yet small enough to hold in one hand.
Among its benefits:
- daylight readable display
- long battery life
- intuitive interface
- glove-friendly touchscreen
- ruggedized construction
- lightweight
- centralized charging
“We’re very grateful to Western & Southern for making this lifesaving technology possible for this department,” said Cincinnati Fire Chief Richard A. Braun. “The Cincinnati Fire Department was an innovation from its beginning and thanks to our corporate and community support, we’re continuing that tradition to improve and even save the lives of the people we serve.”
RDT has volunteered to provide the necessary software so that any hospital with an emergency department in the region can communicate with first responders via the Tempus Pro. Tempus Pro allows first responders to document and share patient data electronically and ensures that providers throughout the chain of care have the most accurate information on patient injuries, therapies, trending vital signs, drugs and fluids that can be handed over, or sent ahead of the patient arriving at hospital or next level of care.
The units also are expandable to add new capabilities as the technology develops without the need to purchase the basic hardware.
Once training is completed, Cincinnati Fire Department expects to begin deploying the Tempus Pro as soon as June.
About Western & Southern Financial Group
Founded in
Cincinnati in 1888 as The Western and Southern Life Insurance Company,
Western & Southern Financial Group (Western & Southern) is now a Fortune
500 diversified family of financial services companies. Its total assets
owned ($41 billion) and managed ($26 billion) totaled $67 billion as of
Dec. 31, 2013. Western & Southern is one of the strongest life insurance
groups in the world. Its six life insurance subsidiaries (The Western
and Southern Life Insurance Company, Western-Southern Life Assurance
Company, Columbus Life Insurance Company, Integrity Life Insurance
Company, The Lafayette Life Insurance Company and National Integrity
Life Insurance Company) maintain the following financial strength
ratings: A.M. Best A+ Superior, Standard & Poor’s AA Very Strong, Fitch
AA Very Strong and Moody’s* Aa3 Excellent. All of Western & Southern’s
life insurance companies have a Comdex Ranking of 96. Other member
companies include Eagle Realty Group, LLC; Fort Washington Investment
Advisors, Inc.; IFS Financial Services, Inc.; Peppertree Partners LLC;
Touchstone Advisors, Inc.; Touchstone Securities, Inc.; W&S Brokerage
Services, Inc.; and W&S Financial Group Distributors, Inc. For more
information on the Western & Southern family of companies, visit www.westernsouthern.com.
Western & Southern is the title sponsor of the Western & Southern Open (www.wsopen.com),
a premier event in the U.S. Open Series played each August by the
world’s top-ranked professional male and female tennis players.
About Remote Diagnostic Technologies (RDT)
A successful
global medical device business founded in 1997, RDT are recognised as
leaders in the design and manufacture of pre-hospital care vital signs
monitors. Specialist technologies include compact and highly integrated
vital signs monitors for medical professional, intermittent and
non-medically trained users that are widely used in aviation, maritime,
exploration, pre-hospital and military environments.
