Clinical evaluation of the Life Support for Trauma and Transport (LSTAT) platform.
BACKGROUND
The Life Support for Trauma and Transport (LSTAT trade mark ) is a self-contained, stretcher-based miniature intensive care unit designed by the United States Army to provide care for critically injured patients during transport and in remote settings where resources are limited. The LSTAT contains conventional medical equipment that has been integrated into one platform and reduced in size to fit within the dimensional envelope of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) stretcher. This study evaluated the clinical utility of the LSTAT in simulated and real clinical environments. Our hypothesis was that the LSTAT would be equivalent to conventional equipment in detecting and treating life-threatening problems.


METHODS
Thirty-one anesthesiologists and recovery room nurses compared the LSTAT with conventional monitors while managing four simulated critical events. The time required to reach a diagnosis and treatment was recorded for each simulation. Subsequently, 10 consenting adult patients were placed on the LSTAT after surgery for postoperative care in the recovery room. Questionnaires about aspects of LSTAT functionality were completed by nine nurses who cared for the patients placed on the LSTAT.


RESULTS
In all of the simulations, there was no clinically significant difference in the time to diagnosis or treatment between the LSTAT and conventional equipment. All clinicians reported that they were able to manage the simulated patients properly with the LSTAT. Nursing staff reported that the LSTAT provided adequate equipment to care for the patients monitored during recovery from surgery and were able to detect critical changes in vital signs in a timely manner.


CONCLUSIONS
Preliminary evaluation of the LSTAT in simulated and postoperative environments demonstrated that the LSTAT provided appropriate equipment to detect and manage critical events in patient care. Further work in assessing LSTAT functionality in a higher-acuity environment is warranted.
Johnson
Ken
K
Department of Anesthesiology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, USA. kjohnson@remi.med.utah.edu
Pearce
Frederick
F
Westenskow
Dwayne
D
Ogden
L Lazarre
LL
Farnsworth
Steven
S
Peterson
Shane
S
White
Julia
J
Slade
Travis
T
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001698:Biomedical Engineering; D003422:Critical Care; D004867:Equipment Design; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008020:Life Support Care / Q000295:instrumentation*; D016544:Patient Simulation; D011184:Postoperative Period; D012128:Respiratory Distress Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014187:Transportation of Patients