COVID-19 monitoring, contact tracing, virtual care with new netTALK health solution

Seamless integration with Tritan's SeaCare

The system works seamlessly with the Tritan Software SeaCare platform, allowing frequent, critical, real-time health information to be sent electronically to the ship’s medical team without any initial physical interaction needed. SeaCare complies with all government requirements and can receive, process, monitor, protect and manage the required health data of passengers and crew.

Vitals checked via smartphone — even (to come) temperature and SpO2

NetTALK Maritime's new contactless screening process includes noninvasive pulse reading, respiration rate and, coming in the fourth quarter, fever detection and blood oxygen (Sp02) saturation, all using a smartphone camera. The screening includes a chat-bot questionnaire based on current triage protocols used by hospitals. A photo is taken at time of measurement to ensure identity.

With this interactive method, symptoms are quickly caught, allowing the sick person to be quarantined immediately. This minimizes the chance of broad contamination. The medical staff is alerted to any potential health problem, allowing them to make an assessment, a diagnosis and a recommendation for care.

NetTALK Maritime is a communications platform embedded in cruise line apps that enables calls/texting and location services. With the advent of COVID-19, the Health Monitoring System was created. Data is transferred securely to Tritan's SeaCare, used by more than 90% of the cruise industry, according to netTALK Maritime's Nicholas Kyriakides.

Reducing medical center visits/exposure

'This solution helps in a lot of ways, so cruise lines will be able to monitor, do contact tracing and minimize visits to the medical center since people can chat or have a video consultation with a doctor,' said Roger Blum of Cruise & Port Advisors, which represents netTALK Maritime to the cruise industry.

This could also allow virtual consultations for people who have non-COVID issues, such as a cut, reducing their potential exposure at a medical center waiting room, he added.

Custom-configured screenings

Screenings can be custom-configured by passenger or crew location in real time, by certain time intervals or by enabling self-reporting at leisure, such as before a person leaves their cabin — not just at embarkation and debarkation. People are also quickly checked when entering public areas to prevent contamination of large gatherings. Crew members are screened at key points, such as before entering guest cabins, before manning workstations and at other scheduled times to verify their health.

Virtual checkups

For sick people required to quarantine, virtual checkups continue directly from their cabins. Using the passenger’s smartphone and the cruise line’s app embedded with the netTALK Maritime system, the medical team can communicate with patients via voice, video, walkie-talkie and chat features, and can facilitate shoreside doctors to speak directly with patients.

Once a sick person is identified, contact tracing can be enabled to locate, test and potentially quarantine people at risk of infection. Contact tracing also identifies locations where an infected person spent time so those areas can receive extra sanitization.