Aircraft-to-ground Pax Vital-sign Monitoring Readied

MedAire said it has become the “first in the world” ready to receive remote vital-sign medical-monitoring data from civil aircraft in flight. The company’s first subscriber for this service is British Midland Airways, which will equip all of its long-haul flights with the Tempus 2000 remote vital-sign monitor from London-based Remote Diagnostic Technologies. The approximately $50,000 Tempus 2000 is designed to allow someone with no medical experience to collect and transmit a patient’s blood pressure, pulse rate, temperature, electrocardiogram, blood oxygen and carbon-dioxide levels. This data is then transmitted instantaneously to MedAire’s Global Response Center in Phoenix, where doctors use the data to advise the crew of the best course of action. Separately, MedAire is testing the effectiveness of another remote vital-sign monitor, the $20,000 TeleMedic Systems Vital Link 1200.