|
|
Traveler-ER could prevent life-threatening errors |
|
|
| |
By Katelyn Gendron
Reminder Assistant Editor
WESTFIELD -- Tom Mihalek was having dinner out with clients when a man at an adjacent table fell to the floor in need of immediate medical attention.
"All his coworkers said [to medical personnel was], 'Well, that's Bob from purchasing and I think his wife's name is Linda,'" Mihalek recalled during an interview with Reminder Publications.
Two years later, Mihalek is the president and one of three founding members of Traveler-ER Inc., creators of a portable electronic emergency records device so that Bob from Purchasing never has to go to the hospital without an identity or medical history.
He noted that business is booming for the Travel Goods Association's third place 2009 Product Innovation Award winner, among every demographic, despite the current fiscal crisis.
Dr. Brian Sutton, a physician in Noble Hospital's Emergency Room, explained that all too often patients arrive unconscious or otherwise unable to tell doctors who they are, their symptoms or their medical history.
"A lot of times we have to make life and death decisions rather quickly," he said. "If the patient can't give you a [medical] history while in the ER it's a great tool to have...that information is invaluable to prevent medical errors [such as allergic reactions or dangerous combinations of medications]."
Traveler-ER is a portable thumb-drive with user-friendly software that allows individuals to store their personal information, individual and family medical histories, emergency contacts, physicians, insurance policies and travel history. Mihalek noted that the software only requires that users enter their name; all other information, such as a Social Security number, is optional.
"You don't have to be tech-savvy to [use] it," Teresa Lalli of Feeding Hills said. "I think everyone should have it."
She explained that Traveler-ER was a necessary purchase for her and her husband, Sergio Bruno, who suffers from Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis. He is currently a liver transplant candidate at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla.
Teresa noted that she has given the device to EMTs and doctors on several occasions when her husband has taken a sudden turn for the worse. She added that the device ensures that her husband will be treated as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Mihalek explained that it took him, his partners and medical experts over a year to develop the software and another year to complete market research and distribute the product.
He noted that while hospitals and private practices struggle to find ways to finance the conversion of paper medical records to electronic versions by President Barack Obama's deadline of 2014, individuals are able to create their own now.
Traveler-ER costs $29.95.
For more information about Traveler-ER, visit www.Traveler-ER.com.
|
Comments From Our Readers:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
