DREAMS Project is Outlined
Will Focus on Chemical Weapons Attack, Faster Emergency Care

Researchers, physicians and legislators met Nov. 30 to discuss the further development of the DREAMS (Disaster Relief and Emergency Medical Services) Project, an advanced telemedicine project designed to speed diagnosis and treatment for critically injured patients.

Joining the researchers from The University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center and Texas A&M University Institute of Biosciences and Technology were U.S. Congressmen Ken Bentsen, Kevin Bailey and Tom DeLay who formally notified the group of a $10 million grant approved for the project. Congress approved the funding as part of the 1999 Defense Appropriations Bill. The DREAMS Project is intended to aid in battlefield injuries as well as civilian injuries - especially those in areas a good distance from urban trauma centers.

Dr. James "Red" Duke discusses the emergency intervention component of DREAMS. On the right, Congressmen Ken Bentsen, Kevin Bailey, and Tom DeLay.

Key to the success of DREAMS will be the computer and telemedicine technology being developed at the Institute of Biosciences and Technology. "We are developing one of the most sophisticated telecommunications infrastructures in the U.S. for use for telemedicine and telehealth," says Dr. Fuller Bazer, director of the Institute. "Scientists and physicians will be able to send and view - in real time - data-intensive information or medical information such as x-rays and ultrasound images."

Work for the project is being conducted in cooperation with the U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command.

"This project is right for the American people, and for our soldiers," Congressman Bentsen told the group. "In very tough budget times, this was an easy 'sell' to our Congressional colleagues."

Trauma and Heart Attack
"Here in Houston, early intervention is a given," said Dr. James "Red" Duke, renowned trauma surgeon and principal investigator in the DREAMS Project. "Thanks to Dr. [David] Persse's highly trained emergency medical services. But in many counties in Texas, with a heart attack or a bad hemorrhage, you can be in deep trouble."

Dr. Duke, and co-investigators Dr. Ward Casscells and Dr. James Willerson, noted that with new telemedicine technologies - developed by Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), a division of Texas A&M - available in advanced ambulances, a physician can treat a patient in transit in real time. A prototype ambulance with the advanced computer and telemedicine equipment will be ready in 1999.

"The outcome is determined by quickness of care," said Dr. Duke. "By electronically taking the physician to the scene, we save lives, and that's the motivation for this project."

The Threat of Terrorism
Another aspect of the DREAMS Project includes research to effectively deal with the possibility of chemical or biological attack by terrorists. The federal government has designated - and funded - Texas A&M to develop a "chemical SWAT team" modeled on the internationally recognized HAZMAT fire fighting program directed by TEES.

"You can imagine the chaos surrounding a circumstance which involves chemical or biological terrorism," noted Dr. Richard Ewing, dean of science at Texas A&M and director of the TEES Institute for Telecommunications & Information Technologies. "The Chemical Threat Management element of DREAMS is designed to enhance our ability to react to a biological/chemical threat, such as the Tokyo subway bomb," Dr. Ewing told the audience. The task facing this project will be the development of biotechnologies for detection and decontamination, and the protection of rescue personnel.

Improving Recovery Outcomes
DREAMS also has a basic science component with several research projects investigating a speedier recovery process for wounds and chemical injury. Some of these investigations are: field-implantable left ventricular assist devices; the development of luminescent and fluorescent antibody probes for detecting chemical and biological agents; prevention of injury-triggered apoptosis; and development of a "gene gun" to enhance wound healing.

- ROGER WIDMEYER

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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