FORT A.P. HILL, Va. (April 16, 2015) – Imagine arriving at a major medical center with a life-threatening medical condition. Imagine now, this facility has no paging or cell phone capability. How will the right doctor be alerted that you need treatment to save your life?
The Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center’s Mobile Health Innovation Center, or TATCR MHIC, are working to avoid a scenario, such as this, in austere, deployed hospital environments.
Earlier this year, TATRC, together with the Cyber Center of Excellence Experimental Division, Regional Training Site-Medical on Fort Gordon, Georgia, and the 75th Combat Support Hospital, hosted a technology demonstration to showcase a digital paging device that can be used in combat support hospital settings on Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia.
The team demonstrated a commercial digital voice-over Internet protocol badge – combined with an National Security Agency-approved, wireless capability for tactical environments. Demonstration attendees were able to observe the voice-activated digital paging system in use, allowing hands-free communications throughout the hospital – a real-life, operational setting.
The event, “Addressing Documented Gaps in Internal CSH Communication and Recall With a Garrison Optimized COTS Solution Leveraging Wi-Fi and Vocera Mobile Health,” demonstrated how the use of a commercially-available technology can help deployed hospital staff, avoid instances where members of a clinical team are taken away from providing care and retrieving another care provider.
“With the assistance of the Cyber Center of Excellence, Experimentation Division, we continue to seek technical solutions to answer real world medical needs,” said Edward Kensinger, TATRC MHIC project manager.