Lifestream Technologies Inc., of Post Falls, has enlisted a Spokane ambulance company and residents of assisted-living homes here to test its Privalink software in preparation for a national rollout of the product.


Ed Siemens, Lifestreams chief operating officer, preferred not to release the names of the ambulance company or the assisted-living centers that are involved in the pilot program. The Spokane office of American Medical Response of Washington, however, confirmed that its the ambulance company thats testing the product here.


Were really excited about this project, says Mike Lopez, business development coordinator at American Medical Response here, which is a unit of a nationwide medical transport company that operates in 37 states and more than 150 cities.


All of American Medical Responses 24 ambulances here will take part in the pilot program, he says.


Lifestream hopes to use the results from the pilot to persuade American Medical Response to equip all of its vehicles nationwide with the product, Lifestreams annual report says.


Privalink is an Internet-based system that accesses medical data stored on Lifestreams Data Concern smart cards. The cards are an important part of Lifestreams flagship product, its personal cholesterol monitor, because they can store a series of cholesterol-test results.


The pilot program that will be tested in Spokane, however, will involve storing emergency medical information on the cards.


American Medical Responses ambulances will be furnished with portable Privalink smart-card readers, while the assisted-living residents who are involved in the study will be supplied with smart cards. The ambulance companys personnel will be responsible for loading and updating the residents medical histories and other personal information. That information then will be available immediately to emergency medical technicians (EMTs) who respond to calls at those assisted-living centers.


Having that kind of information can be critical, says American Medicals Lopez. An EMT responding to a call where a patient is unconscious, for example, would know right away what kinds of medications the patient takes and whether he or she has a history of having certain conditions, such as strokes, he says.


Lifestream says in its annual report that it will use the results of the pilot project to try to persuade other manufacturers of medical diagnostic devices to add Privalink-enabled smart-card readers to their products.


Lifestream is anticipating a favorable reaction to the pilot project. It makes all the sense in the world, Siemens says. Its MedicAlert on steroids.


In other matters, Siemens says Lifestream last month signed a one-year contract with Spokane-based Servatron for the final assembly of its cholesterol monitors. Servatron had been performing part of that work since May, pending its approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a medical device facility, Lifestream says in its annual report. That approval came in September, and Siemens says he anticipates Servatron will assemble 15,000 cholesterol monitors this month.


Also last month, Lifestream launched a marketing campaign to sell its professional-model cholesterol monitorwhich is geared for doctors and pharmaciststo pediatricians for use on children.


Siemens says Lifestream had a really, really nice uptick in that products movement given the refocus of the product into the pediatric marketplace. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that pediatricians test a childs total cholesterol level if the childs parents have high cholesterol or if theres a family history of early cardiovascular disease, its Web site says.


Also, Lifestream announced last month that it has added Sav-on Drugs and Osco Drug to the list of retailers that carry the consumer-model cholesterol monitor. The two drug-store chains together have 950 outlets.