The Rebound: Rural telemedicine struggles
Credit: NBC 26 Wisconsin
Duration: 03:31s
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ACCESS TO THEINTERNET.IT'S AN ESPECIALLYSOBERING REALITYFOR RURALCOMMUNITIES.NOW MORE THANEVER... THEY'REDEPENDING ONTELE-MEDICINE TOGET HEALTH-CAREBECAUSE OF COVID-19.CHRIS CONTEFOUND AN IDEA THATCOULD SOON SAVELIVES..
BY USINGTECHNOLOGY TOBRING DOCTORSWHEREVER THEY'RENEEDED.SOT - CLILP 0048000245 the landscape isbreathtakingWhere land and skyseem to shake hands ..NATS... is the place KimberlyDanforth calls home.SOT CLIP 0076010724 I have been heremy whole lifeFrom the edge ofJackman, Maine you cansee Canada.686 people live here.One of them wasKimberly's greatgrandfather who startedthis general store in1950.SOT CLIP 0076010748 when peoplecome here they comehere to get away from itallGetting away from it allthough means sacrifice.Perhaps none more vitalthan access to anemergency room.SOT CLIP 0076011120 You sign up forbeing further away fromall of the things peoplehave easy access towhen they live in a cityNATS truck on dirt roadSOT - Nathan in truck002912 time is one ofthose factors we'realways fighting againstAs a rural paramedic,Nathan Yerxa isresponsible for coveringan area that's the size ofRhode Island.CLIP 0048000328 The remotelandscape and difficultterrain make it difficult tobring resources to thearea,Getting patients to theemergency room is a 70mile one-way trip.So in an effort to savetime and lives, the E.R.
Isbeing brought here.SOT - CLIP 0048000920 I think it's one ofthose situations wherewhat's old is new againThe idea is a CriticalAccess IntegratedParamedic program.Paramedics here arereceiving more training incritical care.(NATS)While at the same time,being outfitted with toolslike satellite internet.And heart rate monitorsthat can send datawirelessly to a doctoranywhere.SOT - CONTESTANDUP010322 And with thattechnology paramedicscan instantly connect to adoctor, no matter wherethey take a callFrom stitches, toultrasounds -- the idea isfor these paramedics tobridge the ruralhealthcare gap.While being able to leanon the expertise of adoctor via video chat whomay be hours away.SOT - CLIP 0048000951 It is in manyways like a high-techhome visit, that youmight have seen 60years ago but we're alsobringing urgent careservices with usFinding news ways forrural communities toconnect is a keycomponent to theprogram's success.Nationwide 25 millionpeople don't haveaccess to broadband.COVID has onlymagnified the issue.In Maine alone 36THOUSAND telehealthcalls were made lastmonth.Up from 650 the sametime last year.A 5,600 PERCENTincrease.-with maps004511 this is JackmanTown manager VictoriaForkus pushed hard forthe program.SOT - Victoria/townmanager004114 We were in away forced to implementthis new program earlybecause of COVIDThe whole thing iscosting this community450 thousand dollars ayear to implement.Some of the money willcome from a taxincrease.No small feat in a townwhere the medianincome is just 29thousand dollars.SOT - Victoria004401 What's the dollaramount on one of myneighbor's lives?
What'sthe cost of saving acommunity member andit's priceless.SOT - NATHAN001210 I think the modelwe're developing here issustainableSOT - CLIP 0076011204 Everybodyshould have access tohealthcare, it just looksdifferentA hope that the level ofhealthcare in ruralAmerica ... might oneday rival the beauty ofplaces like this.In Jackman, Maine, I'mChris Conte.AFTER A LONGOFFSEASON FILLED