More than 400 crew members on twelve Spanish tuna fleet vessels operating in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, are participating in the second stage of the first pilot project of a fishery worldwide to implement a telemedicine system on board.
The initial needs analysis stage began last January. In this second stage, the fleet, part of the Organisation of Producers of Frozen Tuna (OPAGAC), has provided training to 29 fishing vessel officers on the use of the medical equipment that has already been placed on board the vessels and which enables basic examinations to be conducted remotely by the medical services of the Nuestra Señora de Fátima Hospital of the Vithas Group in Vigo.
This project, the latest initiative of this fleet to continue making progress in the development of its social sustainability policy, will be carried out under real working conditions on board the tuna vessels for nine months after the installation of the telemedicine equipment. The devices, similar to those used by the Armed Forces, have an instrument to monitor vital signs – electrocardiogram, arterial pressure, oxygen saturation and temperature – and a camera for dermatoscopic examination.
The fleet has arranged two training days on the use of these devices aimed at designated on-board health officers. On the first day, held in August, eight crew and officers from Cantábrica de Túnidos received training. On the second, organised in Bermeo last September, 21 of seagoing crew from fishing companies Albacora, Inpesca and Atunera Dularra attended.
Each vessel will also have circadian monitoring devices (fitness bracelets) that will enable crew members’ body temperature, physical activity, or sleep cycles to be recorded.
All the gathered data will be processed and analysed by the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM), which will analyse the specific circumstances of the most common on-board health problems and will identify the most suitable medical technologies to install on board. For its part, the Vithas Group will provide the 24/7 remote medical service from its Nuestra Señora de Fátima hospital in Vigo.
With this project, the objective of Opagac is to solve one of the main challenges of long-distance fleets: providing correct medical care for any health incident on board on the high seas. This takes forward Opagac’s commitments to promote social sustainability in fishing with the promotion of the Tuna from Responsible Fishing (APR) certification, taking another step forward in the field of labour protection and the improvement of its crew members’ safety.
The fleet will take advantage of the possibilities provided by technologies such as satellite communications or the Internet of Things (IoT), to offer its crew members a comprehensive, digital and connected medical service, and thus reduce the loss rate and derived costs.
