Biometric clip monitors patients’ vitals in emergencies

The First Response Monitor is a wearable device that can monitor patients' heart and respiratory rates in mass-casualty emergencies.

In a mass-casualty situation, first responders often have to monitor dozens of injured people at once, to make sure information about each patient’s vitals is readily available. Previously, medics would have to take measurements repeatedly — a hugely time-consuming manual task that prevented them from administering emergency care. Now, the First Response Monitor, created by Cambridge Design Partnership, is a wearable device that can take over the task, monitoring patients’ heart rate and respiratory rate, providing medics with data on-demand.

The compact biometric device clips onto the patient’s nose and constantly monitors both heart rate and breathing rate. Measurements are displayed both on the wearable and on a paired device, which receives the data via Bluetooth. Medics can also access data graphs that show how the patient’s condition has changed over time. Respiratory rate has, until now, been largely neglected by previous wearable monitors, but it can — in combination with other information — provide indications of life-threatening conditions such as sepsis.

What other monitoring equipment could be adapted for field work?