TechTool Thursday 011

TechTool review of palmPEDi by palmER Worldwide LLC  on iOS  (reviewed on iPhone)

Website: – iTunes - Website

palmPEDi provides quick access to important drug doses for paediatric emergencies.  It’s all done by weight (or an estimated weight based on age).  Select the weight and a long list of drug doses are at your feet (fingertips)

…check out the UPDATE for palmPEDi

Design and User Interface

• The overall UI is simple but clear.  I’m not sure why they have added coloured blocks to the left of each row in the main screen.  This is confusing (to me anyway) and also cheapens the look of the app  – they’d be better off just removing the colour coding and keeping it all black/grey. EDIT: Colours correspond to the Broselow tape as has been pointed out by 2 astute readers (Ben Beuchler and EJ).  Still think this part could be made to look more aesthetically pleasing
• It is straightforward to use.  The user selects a weight and then views one page with all the drugs you might want for that weight.  However it is all listed in one long page – hours of scrolling are required to reach the anti-seizures meds.  This is a waste of the user’s time in an app that is designed to be quick and easy

palmPEDi Interface Image 1

palmPEDi Interface Image 2

palmPEDi Interface Image 3

Clinical Content

There is much in the way of useful paeds ED information and doses here

• Normal vital signs
• Equipment sizes (e.g. tube sizes, line sizes)
• Fluid volumes
• Anaesthetic drug doses for airway management, sedation and pain relief
• Resus drug doses
• Management doses for anaphylaxis, asthma hypoglycaemia, croup, seizures

Cost

• $2.99 – seems reasonable

Room for Improvement

• Redesign the single screen view so the user can reach anti-seizure doses without having to scroll down for days
• Remove the colour coding part of the graphics – it’s distracting and reduces the quality of the app

Overall

This app could be very useful for a quick dosing guidance (particularly if the developers sort the organisation of the dosing info page).  And before anyone comments that it’s not from Australia, that is indeed true.  It is also true that your hospital protocols might have a different policy (e.g. this gives 0.6mg/kg dex for croup and many hospitals just give 0.15mg/kg).  But the doses will keep you right in a panic or until you can locate your local policy.  And that makes it a good app.  I like it.