A 5G-connected ambulance is a vehicle equipped with advanced multi-technology and communication services that uses a 5G network and dedicated communication to receive specialized remote support in real-time via high-definition video while caring for a patient inside an ambulance, for example. In the near future, it will be able to connect the health and medical emergency unit with other vehicles (V2V) or infrastructures (V2i) in order to get through traffic more quickly and reach the hospital more quickly.
The ambulance has a camera located inside the cabin where health and medical emergency professionals care for the patient, and it can be activated by emergency medical technicians, physicians, and/or nurses when needed. A double image is sent in real-time via a tablet: the patient’s appearance within the ambulance, along with the monitor showing the patient’s vitals and electrocardiogram. At the same time, there is a conversation between the ambulance team and the physician, who provides instructions to assist in the patient’s care.
The ambulance also has two exterior cameras: one in front and the other in the back, which can record outside images in situations where it is important, such as in a terrorist attack or traffic accident.
Partners: Government of Catalonia, SEM, Vodafone, i2CAT, IECISA, and 5G Barcelona
Sector: Health and Medical Emergencies
Use case: Specialised remote support for health and medical emergency professionals when dealing with complicated medical emergencies or when a certain level of specialization is needed (such as a birth, a patient with a complex critical illness, a suspected heart attack or stroke) with high-definition video in real-time during patient care inside the ambulance.
Description of technology:
The 5G technology in the connected ambulance allows:
- Data transmission speed to increase to up to more than 5 Gbps.
- Slicing or deployment and efficient operation of virtual dedicated mobile networks, which provide a slice or network dedicated to medical emergencies and care in order to guarantee service and communication capacity regardless of the number of users in the same communication cell. The allocation of resources among the different services provided can be controlled flexibly through radio slicing.
- Minimum delays in communications compared to 4G networks (end-to-end 5G networks reach latencies of up to 5 ms) for both communication services and data-sending.
- The ambulance to become a node or base station in the network. The fact that an ambulance has 5G connectivity will allow it to extend its network to an access network.
- Mass connectivity for IoT devices (it will allow for communication with multiple sensors, actuators and smart devices in the region, in the vicinity of the ambulance and inside the ambulance itself).
Main solution or advance offered by the technology:
Dedicated communication in real-time with high-definition video to receive specialized remote support during patient care inside the ambulance.
Status: Finished
