ESO Solutions, Inc. (“ESO”), a provider of total software solutions for emergency medical services and fire departments, announced that it has acquired the assets and operations of Poly Lingo, a developer of translation software for use by paramedics and EMTs. The acquisition will enable the addition of a new Quick Speak translation feature to ESO’s flagship electronic patient care reporting (ePCR) software.
“ESO is committed to providing EMS and fire departments with easy-to-use software that helps them do their jobs more efficiently and effectively,” said Chris Dillie, CEO of ESO Solutions. “We’re confident that our customers will benefit from the ability to use the new Quick Speak feature in their ePCR product to help them overcome language barriers without waiting for a translator, resulting in better prehospital care.”
Based on Poly Lingo’s technology, Quick Speak allows EMTs and paramedics to ask patients more than 300 questions related to symptoms, medical history, history of present illness, prescription medications, allergies and similar subjects. The patient listens to the question in his or her own language and answers by nodding yes or no or pointing to a body part. Currently, question banks are preprogrammed in 12 languages, including Spanish, French, German, Vietnamese, Chinese, Italian, Finnish, Tongan, Hindi, Pakistani, Dutch and Swedish.
“Language barriers can hinder necessary patient care or even lead to medical errors,” added Dillie. “While ideally it would be best to have a trained medical provider who speaks every patient’s native language, having translation technology built into ePCR means it will be available at the patient’s side when it’s needed.”
“ESO is a great match for Poly Lingo because it’s an organization that truly understands how EMS and fire personnel do their jobs,” said Poly Lingo founder and creator Ken Kelly. “We’re pleased that our translation technology will benefit ESO’s customers and the patients they serve.”
ESO officials said Quick Speak will be available to its ePCR clients beginning in May of 2010.
ESO Solutions, Inc. (www.esosolutions.com), founded in 2004 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, provides fully hosted, NEMSIS Gold electronic patient care reporting (ePCR) and other software solutions to Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Fire organizations nationwide.
