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Maritime telemedicine must be standardised

2009.05.12 av Jan Fredrik Frantzen

Internet-based communication between the maritime industry and health workers onshore is becoming more important. Cooperation is critical for this to be an effective tool for better health care services for seafarers.

The Norwegian trawler Nordøytrål off the coast of Greenland, in difficult waters and far away from Norwegian public health service. It is not difficult to imagine that maritime telemedicine may increase the security for seafarers here. Photo: www.fiskebat.no

Telemedicine has been in use since 2006 at several oil installations and in the Norwegian maritime fleet.

This is why  Dr. med. Monika Puskeppeleit, physician and master degree student in Public Health Medicine, decided to study in which way this requires other ways of co-operation than before.

31 people and institutions participated in her web-based study in 2007, and Puskeppeleit concluded that both international and inter-organisational co-operation are essential, if maritime telemedicine is to become an effective health tool for personnel working at sea.

Need for a maritime health-journal

Such co-operation becomes especially important when you develop new telemedicine solutions for this field, as for example an electronic health-log or journal for use onboard vessels and oil riggs, as envisioned by Puskeppeleit.

Research and co-operation around maritime telemedicine must become intersectoral and more international, says Dr. Puskeppeleit in her study. Private photo.

- To have access to such a journal at sea may contribute to huge advantages and an increased safety for seafarers, but to be able to make the most of such a system it is essential that the journal communicates with other systems onboard and with the health care services onshore.

- To achieve cost reductions and an increased level of quality of maritime medicine will call for an intersectoral co-operation and an international research focus, Puskeppeleit concludes.

Download Puskeppeleit's master thesis by clicking here...

Contact information

Dr. med. Monika Puskeppeleit, Seamen’s physician, telephone +47 958 48 784 and e-mail monika.p@medi3.no

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