When Mike Zimmer got into work one Monday morning, he wasn’t expecting the call that brought news of an almost tragic event that was avoided because of something he had taken part in.
Zimmer, a senior account manager at AVI Systems, has spent the last 26 years of his career focused on the medical industry. At AVI, he works with health-care providers to come up with technology solutions, including telemedicine systems.
That morning, the client Zimmer had been working with told him that he helped save a life.
Save a life? “Okay, tell me more,” Zimmer said.
A baby’s life was on the line, but the weather made it impossible for a doctor to travel — even though this provider has the resources to reach rural patients quickly via helicopter.
In this case, however, icing conditions barred the helicopter from leaving the ground. The fastest means of reaching this young patient was out of the question.
The provider had to treat the baby by another means: Telehealth.
Zimmer said that the doctor was able to connect remotely via a prenatal televideo cart that AVI Systems put together. In this way, the doctors were able to address the issue and save the baby’s life.
"Without a doubt, I think telemedicine efforts save lives," said Mike Zimmer, senior account manager at AVI Systems. “It does work, it does make a difference.”