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Utilizing mHealth Applications in Emergency Medical Services of Turkey

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Current and Emerging mHealth Technologies

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Abstract

Emergency medical services (EMS) frequently deal with life-threatening situations. They aim to deliver services as early as possible to avoid inevitable outcomes. Due to time-sensitive conditions, EMS around the globe, including Turkey, needs to employ information technologies for better healthcare delivery. Mobile health, referred to as m-Health, currently plays a major role in different areas of the healthcare sector, including EMS. Various devices, tools, and functions of m-Health allow a significant decrease in response time to critical situations, as well as increasing the quality of treatment. The aim of this chapter is to present collective information about the utilization of m-Health in EMS of Turkey. This exploratory study gives an overview of the current state of m-Health interventions about EMS in Turkey and discusses the main challenges faced by both medical and nonmedical users. This study presents that electronic recording, global positioning system (GPS), telemedicine, mobile or smartphones, desktops, personal digital assistants (PDAs) or handheld computers, and wireless networks are commonly used in the domain of EMS in Turkey. However, m-Health utilization has not achieved a satisfactory level yet due to various factors such as priorities, cost, legal issues, knowledge, logistics, and technology literacy. Possible recommendations for addressing these factors include efforts to increase collaboration between public and private sectors, develop strategies by the government, raise public awareness by using promotion campaigns, provide technological support especially for elderly and women, and improve technology and health literacy.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business Administration, Yasar University, Izmir, Turkey

    Görkem Sariyer

  2. Department of Emergency Medicine, Cigli Regional Training Hospital, Izmir, Turkey

    Mustafa Gokalp Ataman

Authors
  1. Görkem Sariyer
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  2. Mustafa Gokalp Ataman
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Correspondence to Görkem Sariyer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Research Institute, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, USA

    Emre Sezgin

  2. Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology, Middle East Technical University, Cankaya, Ankara, Turkey

    Soner Yildirim

  3. School of Informatics, Middle East Technical University, Cankaya, Ankara, Turkey

    Sevgi Özkan-Yildirim

  4. Faculty of Education, Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology, Kocaeli University, Kocaeli, Turkey

    Evren Sumuer

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Sariyer, G., Ataman, M.G. (2018). Utilizing mHealth Applications in Emergency Medical Services of Turkey. In: Sezgin, E., Yildirim, S., Özkan-Yildirim, S., Sumuer, E. (eds) Current and Emerging mHealth Technologies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73135-3_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73135-3_6

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-73134-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-73135-3

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