One of ThedaCare At Work Occupational Health’s services to the City of Appleton is management of firefighter surveillance exams, which assess any ill health resulting in the line of duty and also determine an individual firefighter’s fitness for continued duty. A significant amount of detail goes into the exam findings and, with limited time to review results, firefighters usually get a bottom line outcome: ”You pass this year.”
Occupational health physician Constantine (Gus) Dumas, MD, however, wanted to give his patients something more. “This exam has so much useful information from a wellness perspective, if it could be communicated to the patient in a concise understandable fashion.” he said.
The solution? A visual display board with results presented next to anatomy images.
Dr. Dumas and his team used a green/yellow/red flag system to provide firefighters with a quick visual summary of their current health and changes from the previous year. “It was extremely well-received,” said Dr. Dumas.
