Telemedicine Becoming Reality for Prehospital EMS  With the
growing availability of broadband wireless systems, people
across the country are taking notice of a technology that could
change the entire face of EMS.       Telemedicine is not a new
technology. It's been around for years, although it typically
hasn't received much attention. Until now. With the growing
availability of broadband wireless systems, people across the
country are taking notice of a technology that could change the
entire face of EMS. One city with a lot of forward-thinking
people is Tucson, AZ.       "We're running two pilot programs:
an Alpha truck, which is a social service-type program, and the
ER Link program, which is a telemedicine unit," says David
Ridings, assistant chief of the Tucson Fire Department's EMS
Division. "The ER Link program is a groundbreaking exercise in
placing live streaming video in the back of ambulances that will
transfer to local hospitals. We're still in the secondary phase
of equipping all the ambulances