Airtel, Apollo Hospitals, and Cisco join forces to
demonstrate the Future of Healthcare with 5G Connected Ambulance

Use case showcases how 5G technology virtually transports doctors to the Ambulance to provide critical care enroute to the Hospital

New Delhi, April 28, 2022: Bharti Airtel ("Airtel"), India's premier communications solutions provider, partnered with Apollo Hospitals and Cisco to create a 5G Connected Ambulance that transforms access to healthcare and save lives in emergency situations. The demonstration was conducted in Bengaluru over the 5G trial spectrum allotted to Airtel by the Department of Telecom.

The custom-designed state-of-the-art 5G Connected Ambulance is equipped with the latest medical equipment, patient monitoring applications, and telemetry devices that transmit the patient health data to the hospital in real-time. In addition, it is also equipped with onboard cameras, camera-based Headgear, and Bodycams for paramedic staff – all connected to the ultra-fast & low latency Airtel 5G network. It will be further enabled with technologies like AR/VR.

When a critical patient is enroute to the hospital and every second makes a difference, the 5G Connected Ambulance acts as an extension of emergency room and enables the following:

• Always connected to the Hospital: The high-speed, low latency 5G network relays the Geo-location of every Ambulance to the hospital's command center to ensure the nearest Ambulance reaches the critical patient to save the patient’s Golden hour time. Also, Ambulance transmits the patient's complete telemetry data, including vitals, in real-time to doctors and experts at the hospital. This allows the doctors at ER to make faster decisions and advise the paramedics in ambulance to administer required aid while on the move. It also prepares the hospital staff to better manage the patient on arrival and save precious time.
• Transports doctors virtually to the Ambulance: With real-time camera feed available, the paramedics in ambulance can use the cameras to collaborate with the ER doctors at the hospital who are equipped with technologies like AV/VR to undertake basic procedures, if necessary. The doctors can virtually guide the paramedic to carry out the procedure and save precious lives.

Ajay Chitkara, Director & CEO, Airtel Business, Bharti Airtel said: "5G is a transformational technology, and this is yet another demonstration by Airtel as to how collaborations can unlock the potential of digital platforms for the good of humanity. Healthcare is one of the most promising use cases for 5G, and we are delighted to deepen our partnerships with Apollo Hospitals and Cisco to bring some innovative use cases for the Indian market."

Dr. Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group, said, "Apollo Hospitals have been evangelists of connected ambulances and using these to reduce mortality and utilize the Golden Hour to the benefit of patients. The criticality of the 'Golden hour' is well known. It can mean the difference between life and death for seriously ill or trauma patients in an emergency. The Golden hour is impacted by the facilities in an ambulance and the distance from the Hospital. Studies show that an increased journey distance to the Hospital is associated with an increased risk of mortality, with a 10‐km increase in straight‐line distance associated with around a 1% absolute increase in mortality. Studies also indicate that pre-hospital time management should become a management objective. These insights propelled us to collaborate with Airtel on the 5G connected ambulance project and use 5G in order to utilize the disruption-free, lag-free connectivity it provides.”

She also said, “This will help save many lives as timely treatment can be started even in the Ambulance itself. The 5G connected ambulance is testament to Apollo Hospitals' commitment to utilize the power to technology in healthcare for the benefit of patients."

Anand Bhaskar, Managing Director, Service Provider Business, Cisco India & SAARC, said, "Cisco's partnership with Airtel, through our Country Digitization Acceleration program, is a step towards bringing the immense possibilities of 5G to life by improving the performance of critical-care applications. 5G will be a game-changer in enabling new use cases and improving efficiency across every industry and specifically in the healthcare sector, as 5G will arm doctors with actionable insights to augment patient monitoring and treatment."

Visual Resource: Connected_Ambulance_Demonstration

About Airtel: Headquartered in India, Airtel is a global communications solutions provider with over 480 Mn customers in 17 countries across South Asia and Africa. The company ranks amongst the top three mobile operators globally and its networks cover over two billion people. Airtel is India's largest integrated communications solutions provider and the second largest mobile operator in Africa. Airtel's retail portfolio includes high speed 4G/4.5G mobile broadband, Airtel Xstream Fiber that promises speeds up to 1 Gbps with convergence across linear and on-demand entertainment, streaming services spanning music and video, digital payments and financial services. For enterprise customers, Airtel offers a gamut of solutions that includes secure connectivity, cloud and data centre services, cyber security, IoT, Ad Tech and cloud based communication. For more details visit www.airtel.com

About Apollo Hospitals: It was in 1983, that Dr. Prathap C Reddy made a pioneering endeavour by launching India’s first corporate hospital - Apollo Hospitals in Chennai. Now, as Asia’s foremost trusted integrated healthcare group, its presence includes over 12,000 beds across 72 Hospitals and 4100 pharmacies, over 120 Primary Care clinics and 650 Diagnostic centres, 700 plus Teleclinics, over 15 medical education centres and a Research Foundation with a focus on global Clinical Trials. The most recent investment being the commissioning of South East Asia’s very first Proton Therapy Centre in Chennai. Every four days, the Apollo Hospitals Group touches a million lives, in its mission to bring healthcare of international standards within the reach of every individual. In a rare honour, the Government of India had issued a commemorative stamp in recognition of Apollo's contribution, the first for a healthcare organization. Apollo Hospital’s Chairman, Dr. Prathap C Reddy, was conferred with the prestigious Padma Vibhushan in 2010. For 38 years, the Apollo Hospitals Group has continuously excelled and maintained leadership in medical innovation, world-class clinical services and usage of cutting-edge technology. Its hospitals are consistently ranked amongst the best hospitals in the country for advanced medical services.

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