ABSTRACT
We have developed a system for real-time patient monitoring during large-scale disasters. Our system is designed with scalable algorithms to monitor large numbers of patients, an intuitive interface to support the overwhelmed responders, and ad-hoc mesh networking capabilities to maintain connectivity to patients in the chaotic settings. This paper describes an iterative approach to user-centered design adopted to guide development of our system. This system is a part of the Advanced Health and Disaster Aid Network (AID-N) architecture.
Subject(s)
Algorithms , Disasters , Monitoring, Physiologic/methods , Triage/methods , Attitude of Health Personnel , District of Columbia , Emergency Medical Services/methods , Emergency Medical Technicians , Humans , Monitoring, Physiologic/instrumentation , User-Computer InterfaceABSTRACT
Transportation officers at mass casualty incidents are faced with the daunting task of tracking large amounts of patients as they leave the disaster scene. Patients often leave under their own power without notifying any authorities, presenting a problem for personnel attempting to account for every patient they have treated. This paper describes a system of tracking patients at a disaster scene or en route to hospitals using electronic triage tags registered with an external database.
