LAKE COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35 ORLANDO) -
Meet Max. He's turning doctors into robots and making sure patients in this intensive care unit are cared for around the clock.
"I'm present on site from 7am until 5pm and at 5pm the robot takes over until 7am," explains Kerlan Wolsey, M.D. of Orlando Regional Medical Center.
Max is at located at South Lake Hospital in Clermont, while Jeffrey Sadowsky, M.D., is controlling him from more than 30 miles away in Longwood.
"We can actually examine the patients, listen to their heart sounds, their breathe sounds," explains Dr. Sadowsky. "We have access to their records so we can see their X-rays, CAT scans, MRIs."
Before Max came along, doctors would call in at night to get updates on their patients. But now they use max to examine patients right at their bedside.
And Dr. Wosley says that's critical.
"Seventy percent of our decision making is based on visual cues," he explains.
It means better outcomes for patients...
"We've had patients here within the last 6 month period of using this robot here that their care has been changed dramatically," Dr. Wosley says.
…and peace of mind for the doctors treating them.
"We're saving lives," Dr. Sadowsky says. "We're definitely saving lives."
Max is the only robot of it's kind here in Florida.
