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Information-Sharing in Out-of-Hospital Disaster Response: The Future Role of Information Technology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Jeffrey L. Arnold ,
Brian Neil Levine ,
R. Manmatha ,
Francis Lee ,
Prashant Shenoy ,
Ming-Che Tsai ,
Taha K. Ibrahim ,
Daniel J. O'Brien  and
Donald A. Walsh
Jeffrey L. Arnold*
Affiliation:
Yale-New Haven Center for Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response and the Section of Emergency Medicine, Department of Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Brian Neil Levine
Affiliation:
Department of Computer Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
R. Manmatha
Affiliation:
Department of Computer Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
Francis Lee
Affiliation:
Department of Surgery, Baystate Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA
Prashant Shenoy
Affiliation:
Department of Computer Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
Ming-Che Tsai
Affiliation:
Department of Trauma Service and Emergency Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan, Republic of China
Taha K. Ibrahim
Affiliation:
Accident and Emergency Medicine Department, Al Ain Hospital, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
Daniel J. O'Brien
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Donald A. Walsh
Affiliation:
Chicago Fire Department, Bureau of Operations, Emergency Medical Services Division, Chicago, Illinois, USA
*
Yale-New Haven Center for Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response, 1 Church Street, New Haven, CT 06519, USA E-mail: jeffrey.arnold@ynhh.org
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Abstract

Numerous examples exist of the benefits of the timely access to information in emergencies and disasters. Information technology (IT) is playing an increasingly important role in information-sharing during emergencies and disasters.

The effective use of IT in out-of-hospital (OOH) disaster response is accompanied by numerous challenges at the human, applications, communication, and security levels.Most reports of IT applications to emergencies or disasters to date, concern applications that are hospital-based or occur during non-response phases of events (i.e., mitigation, planning and preparedness, or recovery phases). Few reports address the application of IT to OOH disaster response.

Wireless peer networks that involve ad hoc wireless routing networks and peer-to-peer application architectures offer a promising solution to the many challenges of information-sharing in OOH disaster response. These networks offer several services that are likely to improve information-sharing in OOH emergency response, including needs and capacity assessment databases, victim tracking, event logging, information retrieval, and overall incident management system support.

Keywords

disasteremergency managementgeographic information systemglobal positioning systeminformationinformation technologyInternetpersonal digital assistantwireless peer network
Type
Special Report
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 19 , Issue 3 , September 2004 , pp. 201 - 207
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2004

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