Artificial Intelligence Aiding First Responders
McCONNELSVILLE, Ohio – The Malta & McConnelsville Volunteer Fire Department is developing an innovative computer program that analyzes strategic, emergency, medical data.
M&M Fire Department Education Coordinator Joshua Tilton and Emergency Medical Technician Captain Jacob Woodward explained how the Artificial Intelligence Quality Assurance or ‘AQUA’ system operates.
“So what’s nice about this is… we strip out all of the patient data as far as anything that would be in compliance with HIPAA. But it leaves things like the narrative and the vital signs, and the AI can pick up on things like through natural language processing and things, and start to establish trends that we didn’t even know existed,” Tilton said.
EMT’s submit basic information and the AI automatically compares the data with similar cases, in order to better illustrate standard procedures and more easily identify any deviations and irregularities. As the medical care industry continues evolving so does the amount of training EMT’s must attain.
“EMT training, you know, used to be… around 80 hours. But now your minimum EMT training is upwards of 150 to 180 hours, just to complete the initial training. And then you have to be certified nationally and then get your state certification. Compare that to a paramedic, that’s now in the thousands of hours and is articulating over to an associates degree,” Tilton said.
Tilton is developing the AI technology with the M&M Fire Department at no charge as it serves in his pursuit of a PhD in Artificial intelligence from Capitol Technology University. Woodward added that the M&M Fire Department has always been a proponent of adopting cutting edge technology and sharing it with the first responders in neighboring communities.
