MedicAlert Interchange Project

The first system in Canada to provide paramedics with instant access to MedicAlert health records has been successfully launched in Nova Scotia. Within hours of the system going live, a paramedic in Halifax accessed potentially life-saving information en route to the hospital with a patient.

MedicAlert Access--En Route in Nova Scotia allows paramedics to access the MedicAlert emergency health record from ambulances and include it as part of the electronic patient care record. The Siren ePCR software, developed by Medusa Medical Technologies, is used by paramedics to chart the care they provide to patients in the field. Paramedics can now call up a patient's MedicAlert record, to obtain critical data such as allergy, medication, and physician information.

The system will help create more comprehensive and integrated information sharing between ambulatory care, emergency rooms, primary care physicians, and other sources of patient service. The model can also be used to provide other health care professionals, such as emergency room staff, with timely and secure access to MedicAlert information.

There are more than 43,500 Nova Scotians enrolled with MedicAlert, a national charity. They are people of all ages with chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, asthma and allergies, medical implants and special needs.