Google Glass may assist paramedics in disaster areas

Wearable augmented-reality device Google Glass may help paramedics and emergency medical technicians in disaster areas assist injured patients by quickly consulting doctors in real time. When first responders enter the scene of an active shooting or chemical spill, they must rapidly decide how to prioritise patient care.

The current system uses colour-coded tags corresponding to the seriousness of a patient's injuries. However, first responders do not always have the medical expertise to accurately identify who needs the most pressing attention.

"During disasters, emergency rooms typically get overwhelmed. So when truly injured patients show up later, we have nowhere to put them," said Peter Chai, from the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) in the US. Although Google Glass failed as a consumer product, it is getting a second life as a tool that turns paramedics and emergency medical technicians into walking telemedicine suites, 'Popular Science' reported.

Wearing it while assessing patients allows them to consult surgeons and other doctors back at the hospital in real time.