Jordan Times
Saturday, March 14, 1998
Cardiac monitoring company announces plans for
in-flight service
By Hind-Lara Mango
AMMAN — Heartbeat, Jordan's telephonic cardiac monitoring
service, has announced plans to extend its service to all Royal
Jordanian (RJ) passengers who might suffer from in-flight heart
problems.
The private tele-medicine company, launched in 1996, said it
signed a preliminary agreement with RJ in November to take to the
sky.
"We hope to begin operating the service by May,"
Heartbeat General Manager Mohammad Amir told the Jordan Times.
Under the deal, a Heartbeat cardiac care kit will be installed on
all RJ flights to aid any passenger who might have a
heart-related problem.
The device will also help pilots decide on whether they should
make an emergency landing to help the patient.
"Each kit will include a cardiac telemonitoring device, a
defibrillator, an emergency medication kit and an electronic
blood pressure device," said Khalil Zayadin, one of
Heartbeat's founders.
Heartbeat, the first such agency in the Arab World, will operate
in the sky exactly as it functions on the ground, he explained.
"When a patient experiences chest pains, the telemonitoring
device will run a recording of the heart's electrical activity
(EKG)," Dr. Zayadin told the Jordan Times.
"The portable EKG device converts the electrical impulses
into waves. Once the EKG recording is taken, the pilot can
dispatch an emergency phone call to Heartbeat's receiving station
in Jordan," he said.
"Sound signals are then transmitted via telephone to
Heartbeat's computers in the form of graphs at the receiving
station on the ground," he added.
"Once the EKG is evaluated by a specialist, who is on call
24 hours a day, diagnosis and necessary treatment is
recommended," Dr. Zayadin said.
The whole process should not take more than ten minutes.
"If the EKG confirms cardiac arrest, a defibrillator is used
to save the patient's life," he said.
Some international airlines already have defibrillators on board,
but many doctors agree that most in-flight medical services for
potential heart problems are not adequate.
According to Dr. Zayadin, global statistics indicate that over 85
percent of chest pain is not related to cardiac problems.
"With the help of the Heartbeat in-flight kit, the captain
of the plane can determine the seriousness of a patient's
situation before he diverts the aircraft from its flight for an
emergency, which may be nothing more than indigestion or
gas," he said.
Diverting a flight for such potential emergencies could cost the
airline up to $25,000.
"Travel involves a lot of stress...business stress, family
tragedy and anxiety," said Dr. Zayadin.
"In addition, spending a long time immobile at high
altitudes and consuming heavy meals and alcohol all lead to a
prime setting for blood clots to form," he stressed.
Heart disease remains a common cause of death in Jordan, official
statistics show.
Heartbeat receives approximately 50 telephone calls a day from
all over the Kingdom, said Mr. Amir.
Heartbeat has approached Kuwait Airlines to run a similar
service, he added. Emirates, the airline of the United Arab
Emirate of Dubai, has also contacted the Amman-based company to
"install our service on board," Mr. Amir said.
Heartbeat has received phone calls from Jordanian subscribers
travelling in countries as far as Britain and Dubai, "half
of which were pathological," he added.
"In 1997, Heartbeat received 4,000 telephone calls, 254 of
which had to be referred for immediate treatment," he added.
Heartbeat's service, which covers all parts of Jordan, also runs
a centre in the West Bank.
"Continuous [Israeli-imposed] closures in the West Bank make
it difficult for patients experiencing heart pain to receive
medical consultation," said Mr. Amir.
"Heartbeat has proven to be an effective means of diagnosis
there."
A recent Heartbeat survey found out that general practitioners
working in remote areas of Jordan benefited most from this
tele-medical service.
"These doctors do not have the proper equipment in their
clinics to conduct EKGs ," said Dr. Zayadin.
Consequently, Heartbeat embarked on a pilot study in Madaba to
decrease unnecessary referrals and costs shouldered by the
Ministry of Health and Medical Care.
"This is a viable service...since Jordan is currently
spending 7.9 percent of its GDP on health care, more than most
middle-income Western industrial nations," he concluded.