AFD to move to electronic medical records

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Across the country medical providers are getting the push to go automated.   The Austin Fire Department is planning to do the same.

City Council will give the department the go ahead for a wellness tracking system .  This will allow AFD to have electronic medical records.

“The importance of that is we’re able to take the health concerns of firefighters and the health issues we find in our Wellness Clinic we’re able to study that data and there for impact the health and wellness of our firefighters so they can better perform their jobs,”  said Division Chief Tom Dodds.

The program would cost $83,000 the first year and $53,000 the second. 

“What it will do for us, it will automate our record keeping which allows us to not to have to hire other individuals to come in and do record keeping and data analysis for us,” explained Dodds.

Very few departments around the country have a something like the Wellness Center.  It’s basically AFD’s own medical clinic.

The 1,100 firefighters in the department have access do doctors and have to get an annual physical.

It’s a requirement the department has for all of its members which helped Battalion Chief Duke Turpin.

"I did not have particular symptoms, I was feeling very kind of sluggish and lethargic but I was blaming my age and then I wasn't working out enough and I was blaming the stress from the job,” explained Chief Turpin.

Doctors discovered he had a blocked coronary artery. Its information like that the department wants’ to have on an electronic medical record.

Chief Dodds said in a worst case scenario, if a firefighter gets injured, they could sent the electronic medical records to the ER. 

The department’s medical director said from a scientific standpoint they’ll be able to compare data not only locally, but across the country with the International Association of Fire Fighters .

"In preventative medicine program we're really trying to measure our interventions and being able to collect all that data that we collect each year in electronic form would help us track how effective we are with preventing illness and injury,” explained Dr. Paul Parrish.

 The Wellness Center started in 2006.  It offers a full working gym and also injury rehabilitation.