Wireless Systems To The RescueWireless Systems To The Rescue

By early next year, Washington, D.C., will roll out the first phase of a yearlong, $1 million project to provide emergency medical services professionals with a wireless mobile communications system that will help them arrive at emergencies faster and also better prepare them to provide care once they get there.

The district is implementing Michaels Fire and EMS software from Optimus Corp. on rugged Panasonic mobile data terminals used by 80 ambulances and 12 cars driven by its 600 EMS professionals. EMS workers will be able to send and retrieve data to and from a variety of sources using the software, named after the patron saint of paramedics.

"The new system will give us complete access to information in real time and cut down on response time," says Lisa Jacobs-Swindell, the wireless program project manager for Washington's chief technology officer.

When a 911 call is made today, it's first channeled to a computer-aided dispatch system, where an operator takes the caller's information and summons an EMS unit via two-way radio. Once workers arrive, they're on their own to diagnose and treat the patient. During emergencies, Jacobs-Swindell says, EMS pros are too busy to deal with forms and often wind up writing patient data on their pant legs, to later transcribe to paper.

With the mobile terminals, EMS workers will be able to retrieve dispatch information electronically, check patient history, access medical-reference information, and fill out forms online. The devices will provide directions to emergency scenes and someday will connect with public-works department IT systems so EMS drivers can tell which roads have been plowed during snowstorms.

The district chose Optimus because the company's technology met a strict set of criteria, Jacobs-Swindell says. Not only did the software have to be written to accommodate open standards such as Java and XML, it also had to have stringent security to protect patient data under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

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