VCURES Investigators Provide Telemedicine Support for MARS Desert Research Station

VCURES members Dr. Marsh Cuttino, Dr. Francis Chuidian, and Dr. Jonathan Millard are working with the Mars Society and NASA researchers in the Utah desert. The Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) is a privately funded research station used by NASA to research exploration techniques to be used on a mission to Mars. The station is so remote that the closest physician is about 4 hours away, and only available 2 days a week.

To provide medical care for the expedition crew, the VCURES team of physicians, all members of the VCU Department of Emergency Medicine, volunteered to be on call to the station. In the event of medical problems, the physicians contact the crew using a satellite Internet connection, to provide real time telemedicine advice.

"Fortunately, most of the problems have been minor, and we have been able to manage them without the need for evacuation. The real life application of telemedicine expedition support has been able to prevent unnecessary long trips to the local doctor." said Dr. Cuttino who serves as the VCURES Director of Simulation and Medical Informatics. "This highlights both the benefits and limitations of telemedicine in the space exploration environment."

The Mars Desert Research Station has been profiled on the CBS evening News with Dan Rather and CNN, and has had front-page coverage on the New York Times and the Washington Post. For more information you can visit the Mars Society website at www.marssociety.org and contact Dr. Cuttino at cmcuttin@vcu.edu.