FirstTrak PTS Patient Tracking Software - reduces the burden placed on emergency personnel, while allowing entities to Do More for victims and their families.
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Patient Tracking Blog
PatientTracking.com Sponsored by Disaster Management Solutions, a company committed to helping First Responders 'Do More' for Patient Tracking and Mass Casualty Incident Response.
The Eastern Shore
For several years now, our company has been all over the country, gathering data and feedback from hospitals, Public Safety agencies, Fire Departments, Regional Councils, Emergency Management Agencies… all to create, recreate, change, and morph the FirstTrak Suite into something useful for every sector of Disaster Healthcare.
From mobile field hospitals to large several hundred bed facilities, from small town fire departments to one of the largest in the country, we work with all to create a unified data structure that enables many to stand as one.
Constantly changing and growing from each real life experience, each deployment with one of our customers, and each drill we attend and participate in, we have enabled a product once used for inventory to collect data on Flu Immunizations, Point of Dispensing, Pet Tracking, Evacuees, Family Reunification, Patient Tracking, MCI transports, Evidence Collection, and Decedent Tracking and Identification.
Our latest trip was to visit one of our first customers Caroline County Public Health, and to welcome the newest members of the DMS family, MHE and DGH, both located on the beautiful Eastern Shore of Maryland.
Tags: Decedent Tracking and Identification., DMS, evacuees, Evidence Collection, Family Reunification, Flu Immunizations, Inventory, MCI transports, Patient Tracking, Pet Tracking, Point of Dispensing, Shore Health
The Great Shakeout After Action Report Commentary
excerpt taken from DMS After Action Report:
DMS participant commentary
Kim Kirchberg-Schmitt
Strike Team Leader, LAFD Project Manager
The goal of this exercise for me was to get the units in the hands of a few of the members of the department, and to expose the LAFD to the EPTS they have invested in. This project I expect will be an ongoing effort of several members of both the department, as well as DMS. With the recent fires and train disasters, it seems that the natural progression would be to slowly expand the awareness of the system first, and then attempt to install and deliver it to those who will be ultimately responsible for patient tracking.
I was extremely pleased with the LAFD’s involvement and commitment to this test of the system, and felt that the drill was a success from both a technology perspective as well as a human one. Without the support of key individuals who were obviously prepared ahead of time with information and an objective, I don’t believe the test would have been met with such enthusiasm and acceptance. All of the patients that were appropriately funneled through the choke point created at the East Gate area were scanned and tracked using the system, and even those who were not given a bar-coded tag were able to be tracked with ease by rapid manual entry of their triage tag ID.
The drill was intended to have an element of surprise for many of the responders and I felt this contributed to the ultimate success of the test. The natural flow of an incident is never one without bottlenecks, but the ability to identify those bottlenecks and put them to productive use (gathering more specific patient data such as name, gender, DOB, and photos) was one that evolved as the exercise progressed.
At the end of the incident, being able to give the total counts to the PIO staff within a few minutes was clearly representative of the hard work and dedication of the participants, as well as the functionality and usability of the system overall.
Tags: After action report, California, disaster, Disaster Management Solutions, Drills, EMS, EMT, Fire Department, Golden Guardian, Great Shake Out, kirchberg-schmitt, LA Fire Department, LinkedIn, mass casualty, MCI, Paramedic, Patient Tracking, response, strike team, tracking, train crash, transport, treatment, Triage
Golden Guardian 2008 and the Great Shakeout
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
__________________________________________________
FirstTrak Patient Tracking System Tested During Great Shakeout
Torrance, CA - November 20, 2008 – Disaster Management Solutions
(DMS) achieved continued success working with four separate public safety
agencies and numerous hospitals simultaneously during the largest disaster
exercise of its kind in California last week. The Great Shakeout simulated a 7.8
earthquake and saw over 5 million participants across the state. Of
those that participated, the DMS First Trak Patient Tracking System
successfully tracked well over 500? (need actual number or ballpark
here) individuals (need the from where to where here).
“We are very pleased with the feedback we heard from our customers
during the exercise. Four separate public safety agencies of considerable
size in Southern California utilized the system and the response was
very positive,” said DMS President Jay O’Donnell. Riverside County,
Kaiser Bellflower, the Los Angeles County Coroner and the Los Angeles Fire
Department all utilized the FirstTrak system as part of the
exercise. DMS staff were on-hand at the Mission Hills school that the Governor
personally attended and spoke at and were excited to be able to showcase the system
to him.
“Being a local company, we have an added interest in disaster
preparedness in Southern Cal and we are delighted to have quite a
footprint established in the area and to be able to make a
difference,” commented O’Donnell.
Located in Southern California, Disaster Management Solutions and
their First Trak Suite enables multiple uses for multiple purposes
and applications. First Trak has been utilized by hospitals, EMS
agencies, fire departments, public health agencies, the National
Guard and the Red Cross. Disaster Management Solutions has over 25
regional engagements across the country covering over 400 individual
entities.
Tags: California, drill, earthquake, EMS, First Responder, FirstTrak, kirchberg-schmitt, LA City Fire Department, Linked In, O'Donnell, Paramedic, Patient Tracking, preparedness
Why on Earth is Patient Tracking Important, you ask?
Tags: 911, disaster, EMS, fire, kirchberg-schmitt, Patient Tracking, police
How to Properly Document and EMS Call
skin changes
Timothy J. Perkins recently wrote the article for EMS Responder Magazine entitle, The Importance of Documentation (for EMS Responders).
Documentation is an important but often overlooked part of every EMS call. How much time does an EMS provider put into documentation? How much time should an EMS provider put into documentation? How detailed should the reporting be? Would your reports hold up in court? The answers, and some additional points as well, are important for every call you respond to. …. read the full article here
Tags: EMS, Patient Tracking, Tutorials
Nationwide Plan Review: Phase II
The following was writtent by Michael Chertoff, Secretary Department of Homeland Security
Read the entire document at: https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/Prep_NationwidePlanReview.pdf
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for strengthening the
preparedness of the United States to prevent, protect, respond to, and recover from
threatened or actual domestic terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies.
Planning is a key preparedness activity and a shared responsibility of all levels of
government. The Department is committed to modernizing the collective planning
capabilities of Federal, State, and local governments. All are making concerted efforts to
improve plans, train, educate, and develop planners, and explore new means of
collaboration. State and local governments have made admirable efforts in the face of
difficult planning challenges. In his speech to the Nation from Jackson Square in New
Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, President Bush said, “I consider detailed
emergency planning to be a national security priority, and therefore, I’ve ordered the
Department of Homeland Security to undertake an immediate review, in cooperation with
local counterparts, of emergency plans in every major city in America.”
I am pleased to submit the Nationwide Plan Review Phase 2 report to Congress, as
directed by the DHS FY 2006 Appropriations Act and the Safe, Accountable, Flexible,
Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). This report
meets Congressional requirements to review and assess the status of catastrophic and
evacuation planning in all States and 75 of the Nation’s largest urban areas. It also
addresses the President’s directive to review emergency operations plans (EOPs) for the
Nation’s major cities.
The Nationwide Plan Review consisted of two phases. The first phase involved selfassessment,
in which each State and urban area certified the status of its EOP and
identified when the plan was last updated and exercised. The findings from the selfassessment
phase were provided to Congress on February 10, 2006. The second phase
involved peer review, in which teams made up of former State and local homeland
security and emergency management officials visited 131 States and urban areas. Over
the course of 62 business days, these reviewers validated the self-assessments,
determined requirements for Federal planning assistance, and drew initial conclusions for
strengthening plans and planning processes at the Federal, State, and local levels of
government for catastrophic events.
This report reflects findings from both phases of the Nationwide Plan Review. It also
provides initial conclusions about measures required to make the United States better
prepared to deal with catastrophes. I look forward to working with Congress to address
the findings and initial conclusions described in this report.
Tags: DMA, Homeland Security, Hurricane Katrina, Patient Tracking, Standards
Emergency Responder Electronic Health Record - Use Case
On August 1, the American Health Information Community (AHIC, also known as ‘the Community’) approved a recommendation that a use case be developed to describe the role of an electronic health record (EHR) during emergency response activities.
This use case has been developed by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), with opportunities for review and feedback by interested stakeholders within both the public and private sectors. Within ONC, the Federal Health Architecture (FHA) initiative has been tasked with leading the development of this use case, in consultation with both Federal agencies and representatives from the private sector, as well as state and local healthcare bodies. To facilitate this process, the use case was developed in two stages:
• The
Detailed Use Case, which documents all of the events and actions within the use case at a detailed level.This document is the detailed use case. Feedback regarding the use case synopsis has been incorporated into this document and additional changes have been made to provide greater clarity and detail with respect to emergency response activities, network information systems, and use of health information by non-care provider entities such as public health and emergency operations management organizations.
This use case will serve as the basis for additional activities within the national health agenda to further advance the adoption of health information technology.
Read the full Emergency Responder Electronic Health Record Use Case
Tags: Patient Tracking, Standards
Warrior “HotSpot in a Box” Patient Tracking System
human female reproductive system
Warrior “HotSpot in a Box” Patient Tracking System Sparks Public Safety at Boomsday Festival
Man portable, self contained battery powered wireless communication infrastructure for Emergency Responders supports patient triage on Wi-Fi handhelds at simulated Mass Casualty Incident (MCI).
Emergency Responders from Knoxville/Knox County, Tennessee tested their new Emergency Patient Tracking System (EPTS) equipment at the annual Chrysler Jeep “Boomsday” Festival, which brings over 350,000 people to the Tennessee River waterfront for friends, food, and the biggest Labor Day Fireworks show in the country.
This year, first responders set up three medical aid stations and three mobile units to respond to individual medical needs at the Boomsday event. This proved to be the perfect opportunity to test the EPTS equipment.
Through the use of the Warrior HotSpot, the first responders in each medical aid station were able to scan patients into the Emergency Patient Tracking System with Wi-Fi enabled scanners loaded with EPTS Software. Each patient is assigned a unique number and triage category. Some of the additional information that can be gathered for each patient may include the following: chief complaint, vital signs, disposition, and destination. The data gathered from each patient is then transmitted wirelessly from the handheld scanners to a secure website via the cellular-enabled wireless routers and Warrior HotSpots. The core technology for the EPTS was developed by patient tracking software pioneers Disaster Management Solutions.
Full, original article at prweb.com
Tags: DMS, drill, exercise, Patient Tracking
National Survey on Patient Throughput and Capacity Challenge
StatCom’s 2007 National Survey on Patient Throughput and Capacity Challenges was
designed to capture the thoughts and opinions held by U.S. healthcare executives
on issues facing their facilities regarding patient throughput, bed occupancy and
length of stay.
The survey of more than 200 executives, directors, nurses and physicians found that
nearly three-fifths (58 percent) of their facilities lacked the ability to track patients
continuously and over half (53 percent) rated the efficiency of their facilities’ bedturn
process as poor or fair.
The report shows healthcare facilities are still transitioning from old methods of patient throughput management to new technologically advanced patient flow and tracking systems. In fact, two-thirds (67 percent) of executives polled report phone calls and voice messages are still the most common way patient tracking information is made available to admitting staff, while 63 percent indicate that some patient flow information is available on computer terminals.
Tags: Patient Tracking, research
Survey says hospitals could improve patient tracking
nitrogen blanketing
Healthcare IT News - By Diana Manos, Senior Editor
ATLANTA - Hospitals could do a better job of tracking patients, according to a new study released Monday by StatCom.
Fifty-eight percent of the healthcare executives surveyed for StatCom’s 2007 National Survey of Patient Throughput and Capacity Challenges reported that their facilities do not have the ability to track patient flow continuously.
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Additionally, 53 percent of the executives surveyed rated their hospital’s efficiency at the bed-turn process as poor or fair, the study found.
The study also discovered that 67 percent of executives polled report phone calls and voice messages are still the most common way of tracking patients.
“This research clearly shows that the U.S. healthcare system, although implementing some departmental patient tracking systems, has not yet fully embraced the enterprise-wide logistics technology needed to provide up-to-the-minute patient flow insight,” said Eric Morgan, president and CEO of StatCom. “Efficient management of supply and demand along with accurate patient flow visibility can transform operational performance.”
The vast majority of those surveyed said they have incorporated process improvements. However, half said they have not yet incorporated a patient flow tracking system, though most of them ranked patient flow systems as having the greatest potential to improve patient throughput.
Sixty-three percent indicated that they have some form of patient flow information available electronically.
According to Francois Sainfort, Ph. D. , director of Health Systems Institute at Georgia Tech, implementing patient flow technology is critical. “Simply put, patient flow logistics helps reduce bottlenecks and improves patient throughput and capacity management across the hospital,” Sainfort said. “This in turn decreases wait times, increases patient satisfaction and makes for a higher performing healthcare system.”
The study defined found the most common bottlenecks in moving patients included:
•Delayed decisionmaking (45 percent)
•Lack of preparedness for discharge (41 percent)
•Mismatch between critical care beds and regular beds (40 percent)
•Consistent limited bed availability (38 percent)
•Increased length-of-stay beyond that authorized (36 percent)
The survey was conducted online in October with 225 U.S. healthcare executives.
Tags: HealthCare, Patient Tracking
Sponsored by Disaster Management Solutions, a company committed to helping First Responders 'Do More' for Mass Casualty Incident Response.
Patient Tracking Software System- a patient tracking solution that reduces the burden placed on emergency personnel, while allowing entities to do more for victims and their families.
Inventory and Supply Tracking System - an equipment tracking solution that enables comprehensive inventory management, while allowing entities to do more with resources at hand.
DMS First Resource uses proven technologies to provide innovative, scalable, electronic equipment tracking.
Mass Vaccination and POD Tracking Software - a tracking system designed to handle catastrophic biological or chemical outbreak with synchronized, vaccination or prophylaxis.