Towards a ubiquitous healthcare system for acute myocardial infarction patients in Brazil

After an acute myocardial infarction (AMI), the sooner the patient is approached, the greater are the chances that pharmacological therapy (using thrombolytics) be more effective than surgical intervention. Nevertheless, the thrombolytic therapy may have hazard effects on AMI patients that present any contraindication to it. As a consequence, paramedics usually hesitate about applying the thrombolytic therapy - preferring to immediately transfer patients to coronary care units (CCUs) - unless cardiologists support their decision. To cope with this scenario, we envision a ubiquitous telemedicine system for supporting cardiologists and paramedics in (i) the remote decision upon the eligibility of AMI patients to the thrombolytic therapy and (ii) the remote monitoring of patients being transferred, so-called In this paper, we present AToMS (AMI teleconsultation & monitoring), a system that makes extensive use of (possibly heterogeneous) wireless communication technology to allow its use by a paramedic at the location where the AMI patient is first assisted, thus reducing the delay between the onset of symptoms and the eventual application of proper treatment. All exchanged messages among paramedics and cardiologists are recorded, thus rendering a fully auditable system.