Transfer of telemedical support to Cornwall from a national telemedicine network during a solar eclipse

During late 1998 and early 1999, planning officers in Cornwall predicted a huge increase in summer visitors to the county to observe the August solar eclipse. There was the possibility that a mass gathering in Cornwall could overload existing arrangements for handling accident and emergency patients . We therefore set up a telemedicine system to support the county's minor i njury units (MIUs) from hospitals throughout the UK. Six main hospital acci dent and emergency departments outside Cornwall with existing links to thei r own MIUs were twinned with 10 of the 11 MIUs in Cornwall before the expec ted date of the gathering. The network was live for nine days, starting fou r days before the eclipse, and 2045 patients were seen in the 10 MIUs. Ther e were 93 telemedicine calls from the 10 MIUs, involving 91 patients. Overa ll, 4.6% of the patients required a telemedicine consultation. Fifty-seven calls were made during working hours. Thirty-four patients were referred fo r further management, of whom 18 were referred on the same day. The transfe r of telemedical support to a national network was successful.