Praxes Medical Group, a Halifax company that provides medical advice to teams in remote locations, is marketing its software to clients across the country as part of its expansion program.
Siance 1997, Praxes has provided emergency medical advice to corporate and government clients with remote operations and teams, such as those aboard ships, in the Arctic or in mines.
The company uses software called EMwerx, which it developed and is now selling to emergency search teams, fire departments and others across the country.
EMwerx helps to manage people and assets in an emergency in the field in real time. The software can be downloaded on to a laptop and taken into the field, which is an advantage because cellular communications often aren’t available in remote locations.
Sold through a wholly owned subsidiary, Pii Software, EMwerx also helps teams in remote areas record data and keep track of the assets at their disposal while in the field.
Once the team members return from the field and have access to the Internet, they can download all the data to a centralized server.
Emergency organizations often lack this sort of repository for their personnel and assets, so EMwerx helps them keep track of staff activities, their certifications and participation in events.
Doing this helps the organization present factual data on its accomplishments, personnel and training when its funding is reviewed.
Praxes’ team of emergency doctors are also constantly on call to respond to medical emergencies for the company’s 60 clients. They use the phone, an easily accessible tool that everyone is comfortable with, to guide medics or other field personnel through medical procedures that are faster, less costly and more efficient than bringing the patient back to a hospital.
If the doctor needs more information, the remote team can often send ph
otos or even video over a mobile or satellite phone. Doctors can also send the data to any medical facility so health-care professionals have the proper information.
“If clients can manage the patient at the remote site, it’s a lot cheaper for them in a number of ways” than bringing the patient to a hospital, said Praxes CEO Susan Helliwell in an interview.
“We help our clients to reduce risk and have a higher level of care on site.”
Praxes has already sold EMwerx to the Nova Scotia Ground Search and Rescue Association, the Manitoba Office of the Fire Commissioner and the Yukon Emergency Measures Organization.
It is hoping to expand its market across the country and into the U.S.
Praxes itself is now in expansion mode, aiming to broaden its client base, which now includes the Canadian navy and Coast Guard, oil and gas installations, prisons, mines, fishing fleets and even teams climbing Mount Everest.
“This whole campaign we’re doing now is really a national push to make Praxes the dominant emergency and occupational health telemedicine provider in Canada,” said Helliwell.
