A new app has now solved a problem regularly faced by paramedics, by helping them to quickly determine a patient’s medication history during emergency callouts. Donegal paramedic Declan Watters, who developed the ‘MediSnap’ technology, talks to ‘Emergency Services Ireland’ about the positive feedback received since the app recently went live and his plans to get approval from the Health Products Regulatory Authority.
‘What medication are you taking?’ It’s a question that medical professionals ask time and time again. However, in an emergency, the answer may not always be that clear. For paramedics, it is often a patient’s loved ones who are tasked with giving an answer – even when they may not know it themselves.
Similarly, elderly people themselves may know what their daily tablet intake looks like but might be less familiar with what each pill is for. ‘My doctor told me to take them’ is an all-too-common refrain heard by those on the frontlines.
Donegal paramedic Declan Watters has come across situations like this quite often, and sometimes on several occasions during a single shift. The challenge it presents in delivering crucial care inspired him to find a more reliable way to source this vital information.
“The tablets that we’re seeing day in and day out – we know what they’re for and what they’re doing,” he told ‘Emergency Services Ireland’. “However, there are certain tablets that may have a different generic name that might catch us.”
The dilemma often leaves paramedics resorting to Google for answers. More recently, artificial intelligence (AI) has begun to emerge as another far-from-reliable source. Early last year Declan tested AI’s ability to give him the answers he was looking for.
He took a photo of some medications and uploaded it onto the AI platform ChatGPT. The information it provided about the drugs was lengthy and detailed, but there was no way to check its accuracy.
It was that need to verify AI’s response that led to the development of a new app that frontline medical professionals can use to provide accurate, reliable information about medicines in real time.
MediSnap works by the user taking a picture of packaging, prescription labels or blister packs on their phone, then uploading the image to the app. Within a few seconds they receive critical information on what the medicine contains and its uses. After discussing the concept of the app, a silent partner came on board and the process of building a reliable, accurate database of medicines started.
THREE-TIER VERIFICATION
The app works using a three-tier verification system. Tier one refers to Optical Character Recognition – the method in which the app converts the information in uploaded images into readable and editable text. Tier two analyses key words that indicate how and why this drug is being used, such as ‘dispense’, ‘routine’, ‘daily’, etc. The third tier of the app analyses the dosage information provided.
Combined, the data it provides can give a clear picture of how the patient may be using a certain medication. If any error is found in the overall analysis, the tiered structure of the app kicks in to alert the user.
Take, for example, paracetamol, which typically comes in 500mg tablet form. “If the app reads ‘paracetamol 5,000 milligrams’, it doesn’t matter what tier one and tier two say, the app will throw back an error because tier three is coming up as 5,000 milligrams, instead of 500 milligrams,” Declan explained.
Using the tiered structure also helps to decipher wording on pharmacy-printed labels that may have faded over time. To continue Declan’s example, even if some of the letters of ‘paracetamol’ are no longer legible on the bottle of medicine, other information the app receives, such as contents and dosage, will feed into its database of medicines. As a result, the app will be able to assess that the medicine is likely to be paracetamol.
