Cork nursing home trials Covid-19 detection system

Oaklodge Nursing Home in Cloyne, Co Cork, is the first nursing home to pilot innovative remote temperature checking software that can detect early Covid-19 warning symptoms in staff.

The Covid-19 Remote Early Warning System (CREW), developed by software development company 8 West Consulting with the College of Medicine and Health at UCC, the Assert centre and Tyndall Institute, was initially trialled at Cork University Hospital over the past two weeks.

The most common symptom in cases of Covid-19 is a rise in body temperature. CREW remotely checks the temperature of staff with a digital thermometer sensor. An alarm is triggered if their temperature gets too high, which is a warning to stay at home and self-isolate, ultimately helping to contain the spread of the disease.

Diamuid O Dálaigh, owner of Oaklodge Nursing Home, said Covid-19 presents unparalleled challenges for nursing home staffing throughout the country, so technology like this that helps to protect our frontline workers is critical.

“We are delighted to be the first nursing home in Ireland to trial the CREW software, which is currently in test phase before it can be rolled out nationally. Thankfully, we currently have no Coronavirus cases, and hope that this will help to continue to protect our staff and residents alike over the coming months.”

Professor Barry O’Reilly, director of the Assert Research Centre at UCC, said a huge amount of diagnosed cases of Covid-19 are among the healthcare community working to halt the spread of the disease.

"The system, which monitors body temperature, consists of sensors, smart devices and a cloud based monitoring and alerting system”.

The CREW platform is exhibiting good functionality and connectivity between the wearable thermometer, wearable smart devices, cloud platform and dashboards.

This initiative went on trial with selected CUH staff members on April 3 and is now being rolled out to the first nursing home at Oaklodge Nursing Home.

Last week, Oaklodge Nursing Home put a call out for people who may have lost their jobs or been put on reduced contracts to help care for the elderly over the coming months.

While they currently have a full complement of staff, they are looking to create a panel for the future.