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Identifying Patients in Haiti
3 CommentsIt's painful to watch what's currently happening in Haiti, because I know things don't have to be as bad on the ground as they are. Several reports have focused on the inability to identify patients, and to know what treatments they have or have not received.
I've spoken about this problem with a number of first-responders, doctors and companies that manufacture or manage equipment for emergency medical teams. In any kind of a natural disaster, pandemonium reigns, and it's very difficult to organize a triage area, prioritize patient treatment and manage the evacuation of the wounded. Patients are often unconscious, or do not speak the same language as the doctors or nurses, so they are unable to communicate whether they did or did not receive a painkiller or antibiotic.
For our special November/December 2009 issue, RFID 2030, I wrote a piece in which I imagined an industrial accident at a chemical plant in a fictitious Texas town (see When Every Minute Counts). The victims in the story were immediately provided with RFID bracelets, and information regarding any treatments received was written to the tags. Data on the evacuation priority of different patients was also written to the tags, and emergency-management teams used active RFID and GPS to monitor arriving ambulances, so that they could assign specific patients to particular vehicles.
All of the technology required to manage a disaster in the way I imagined for that article is currently available. I'm not confident, however, that we will ever get to the point at which we respond in as organized a manner as illustrated in the story, because egos and a lack of vision often prevent people from doing what can be done. It seems almost criminally negligent that none of the aid groups responding in Haiti are utilizing 21st-century technology to respond to natural disasters, which we know will always happen—even if we don't know when and where they will take place.
After my last blog, "The Tragedy in Haiti," I received a note from a reader saying her company was working on a solution with IBM. That's encouraging. Maybe IBM can help build a smarter disaster response. For those who will sadly be the victims of the next natural or person-made disaster, I sure hope so.
Mark Roberti is the founder and editor ofRFID Journal . If you would like to comment on this article, click on the link below. To read more of Mark's opinions, visit the RFID Journal Blog or click here.
I've spoken about this problem with a number of first-responders, doctors and companies that manufacture or manage equipment for emergency medical teams. In any kind of a natural disaster, pandemonium reigns, and it's very difficult to organize a triage area, prioritize patient treatment and manage the evacuation of the wounded. Patients are often unconscious, or do not speak the same language as the doctors or nurses, so they are unable to communicate whether they did or did not receive a painkiller or antibiotic.
For our special November/December 2009 issue, RFID 2030, I wrote a piece in which I imagined an industrial accident at a chemical plant in a fictitious Texas town (see When Every Minute Counts). The victims in the story were immediately provided with RFID bracelets, and information regarding any treatments received was written to the tags. Data on the evacuation priority of different patients was also written to the tags, and emergency-management teams used active RFID and GPS to monitor arriving ambulances, so that they could assign specific patients to particular vehicles.
All of the technology required to manage a disaster in the way I imagined for that article is currently available. I'm not confident, however, that we will ever get to the point at which we respond in as organized a manner as illustrated in the story, because egos and a lack of vision often prevent people from doing what can be done. It seems almost criminally negligent that none of the aid groups responding in Haiti are utilizing 21st-century technology to respond to natural disasters, which we know will always happen—even if we don't know when and where they will take place.
Mark Roberti is the founder and editor of
READERS' COMMENTS
Evacuation and Patient Tracking during Emergencies
Correct, the entire system already exists to do perform the evacuation component as RFID Journal reported on over a year ago (http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/articleview/4443/1/1/). This system is a UHF wristband based RFID evacuation tracking system that has been in use for several years now in Texas. Since that time, Radiant RFID and the other partners on the Texas System have integrated to allow the tracking of patients in and out of hospitals and shelters as well as the rest of the evacuating population. The final component to be added is the patient information. Though some issues exist on the confidentiality side, several approaches are being evaluated. Specifically for Haiti, Radiant was called on to respond to the effort, but in the end government entities involved decided against it because they wanted to focus efforts on relief. They don't feel the pressure to track until problems, inefficiencies, and knowing who you have taken care of start to surface. We saw this with the hurricane work we did, but we were there on the ground to emphasize the importance and in the end they thanked us. So, I agree, the system is ready to go at this minute if needed for the largest part of the problem here. The rest is within close reach. Kenneth Ratton CFO www.radiantrfid.com
Posted By: Kenneth Ratton 1/28/10 at 4:26 PM
Addressing these issues BEFORE the next time
Thanks, Kenneth. I am reaching out to some aid groups to see if we can put together a program that would be in place BEFORE the next disaster and educate folks why it is needed. If you have any contacts, I would be interested in approaching them.
Posted By: Mark Roberti 1/29/10 at 1:11 PM
The problem is bigger than described...
Mark, Nice article. I know that you are aware that the problem is bigger than is being described in this article and there are multiple potential solutions. I am working with a company to address the broader need and we should be able to discuss it shortly.
Posted By: Jamshed Dubash 2/3/10 at 5:59 PM