Tony Ausseresses has always been a stargazer; now he has a plaque from NASA to prove it.
Ausseresses, a specialist in broadcast telecommunications at LDS Hospital, was responsible for managing the satellite technology that linked physicians at LDS Hospital with physicians in the Soviet Union who were caring for victims of the Armenian earthquake and a major train wreck.Early this year, NASA established a "telemedicine spacebridge" that allowed Soviet medical specialists to present cases - transmitted live by satellite - that were reviewed by physicians in four American hospitals.
Some 230 Soviet doctors and 210 patients were involved; 47 of those patients had their diagnosis or treatment altered by the American physicians - and 16 new treatment methods were introduced.
The American doctors who were involved, including Dr. Terry Clemmer, head of critical care medicine at LDS Hospital, were all recognized for their work. Ausseresses was the only non-physician to be commended by NASA.
Intermountain Health Care provided the additional equipment needed to carry out the project; the expertise came from LDS Hospital doctors and Ausseresses.
Because Armenia is 10 hours ahead of Salt Lake City time, Ausseresses had to establish a satellite uplink by 6:30 a.m., which tied into the end of the day for the Armenians.
"I liked getting up so early; it was great," he said. "How often do you get to interface with another cultural that's so different from your own?
"I was always into astronomy when I was growing up. I used to watch the stars with my dad out in our front yard," he said. "This telemedicine we've been doing is deja vu of sorts. One day you're out in the yard looking at the stars and then a few days later you're receiving signals from space with your own satellite dish."