Diakonie Niedersachsen, our member Diakonie Deutschland’s branch in Lower-Saxony, has recently launched an updated COVID-19 version of its app to overcome language barriers with migrant patients in paramedic care. The app, developed within the ‘DICTUM Rescue’ project framework, a consortium consisting of different healthcare service providers and the University of Göttingen, has recently been updated with a new version for iOS and Android with a COVID-19 add-on and released as a free download for medical professionals.
- The app can be used to ask patients more than 250 questions in 18 different languages or dialects and to communicate information
- The operating language can be freely selected so that the app can be used by medical professionals who speak one of the supported languages.
- The app supports a mode to address children and also takes age- and gender-specific complaints into account.
- Questions concerning patients can also be addressed to third parties, for example, parents.
- The app also offers phrases for challenging situations, where communication can be difficult (e.g. when dealing with aggressive or people with addictions or in cases of suspected domestic violence, child abuse, or suicide).
- Within the app, there is a function to document patients’ responses. All information can be shown in an overview based on the SAMPLER scheme.
- A special COVID-19 category helps paramedics to obtain COVID-19-specific information from patients such as the presence of fever, begin of symptoms, shortness of breath, contact to COVID-19 positive tested persons, etc.
You can download and install the aidminutes.rescue app for Android smartphones on the aidminutes website.