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Tunstall to increase battery support for NBN-connected alarms

Written by Sue Cartledge on .

Medical alarm supplier Tunstall Healthcare is working with the NBN Co to extend the life of battery support for its range of alarms in the event of a power failure.

Medical alarms supplied by Tunstall have been tested and work when correctly connected to the NBN, via the UNI-V (voice) port or via an analogue telephone adapter (ATA) connected to the UNI-D (data) port once activated.

However, the current battery back-up time available on the NBN service is shorter than that of a medical alarm.

A Tunstall representative said in a statement that the back-up will continue to operate for a few hours during a power failure, but the company was working with NBN Co to extend the life of the battery support.

Tunstall Australia has been heavily involved in developing health services using the NBN, with its telehealth team having developed multi-party video conferencing capability for the NBN telehealth projects.

A five minute demonstration of high-speed video conferencing at last year’s HIC conference showcased the potential of the NBN for supporting healthcare in regional Australia.

“It is very gratifying to see our months of hard work translated into reality,” Tunstall CIO Geoff Feakes said at HIC2012. “Without the capacity of the NBN this wouldn't be possible."

The new video conferencing module integrates Tunstall’s icp triagemanager and myclinic@home device with the telehealth system to allow multi-party video conferencing between patients at home and their care team.

Posted in Aged Care

Comments  

0 # Carolyn Skitch 2013-10-01 09:15
This is helpful; however the limited life (and very limited guarantee) of the battery within Tunstall "Amie" pendants is of real concern to the many thousands living within retirement Villages. Unlike the wall-affixed medical alarm itself (where the battery may be removed and replaced) the "Amie" pendant is a sealed unit. Thus when the battery fails a new pendant has to be purchased at a cost of $85-$95. Experience in our Retirement Village is that about 3 years is the "life" of the battery. Our Village has 500 residents and there are 317 Villages in Queensland alone. Surely Tunstall owes a duty to remedy the situation or to offer a cheaper alternative?

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