IoT tech takes strain off hotels, quarantine facilities

With immense pressure being placed on ICUs due to COVID-19, high-tech ‘Corona-Hotels’ are helping to take the strain off emergency services. Tech firm Essence Group, along with partner FocusCura, are installing their remote monitoring tele-care technology to provide support to COVID-19 patients who have been discharged from hospitals.

The technology allows medical staff to remotely monitor patients in a non-obtrusive way. The technology includes a fall detection device, and wearable and non-wearable solutions that alert a command centre when a patient is in need of assistance. The remote tech is helping to stem the spread of the virus.

Essence Group has announced that their Care@Home technology will be installed in makeshift “Corona-Hotels” across the Netherlands. The move will free up Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds by providing a safe location for patients to recover from symptoms that do not require ongoing treatment, helping to take the strain off essential services in the fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Care@Home platform enables family members and professional care providers to remotely monitor individuals, keeping them safe and taking pressure off essential services without the need for potentially invasive cameras.

Working with strategic partner FocusCura, the technology has already been installed in three hotels in the Brabant region of the country with more to come.

This comes at a time when healthcare services are increasingly coming under pressure. The Corona-Hotels are crucial to freeing up ICU beds and off-loading the huge pressure suffered by hospitals at this time. Patients are quarantined in hotel rooms and monitored using superb remote monitoring technology. Similar emergency wards have been set up in hotels in Israel, Ireland and the UK.

The Corona-Hotels take in those who are well enough to be discharged but still exhibiting symptoms, as well people with positive infection cases with minor or no symptoms who are rerouted to Corona Hotels instead of hospitals.

Essence SmartCare, a key company within the Essence Group, provides advanced, AI and voice-based unique remote monitoring solutions for seniors. The Care@Home aging-in-place platform allows carers to use technology to keep their customers safe and healthy, particularly during this challenging period. The complete solution includes sophisticated, activity monitoring, wearable and non-wearable fall detection as well as voice capabilities that allow residents to call for assistance and talk to their carers directly when needed.

The technology is being installed in Corona-Hotels to help healthcare professionals remotely monitor patients in a non-obtrusive way, securing the facility within hours. The tech is helping to stem the spread of the virus by allowing medical staff to provide care remotely.