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))) United States Navy Tracks Wounded in Iraq With ScenPro’s TacMedCS Program Using Texas Instruments’ RFID Technology
))) DALLAS, TX (May 20, 2003)
The United States Navy, working with systems developer ScenPro, Inc. of Richardson, Texas, is using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology from Texas Instruments to more efficiently track the status and location of hundreds of wounded soldiers and airmen, prisoners of war, refugees and others arriving for treatment at Fleet Hospital Three in Iraq. ScenPro’s Tactical Medical Coordination System (TacMedCS) allows medical professionals to use RFID-enabled wristbands to identify patients, and to update their status, location and medical information in the system’s electronic whiteboard automatically.
The Navy implemented TacMedCS to replace a labor-intensive, entirely manual system consisting of pen and paper, cardboard tags, and a centrally located whiteboard to show patient movement throughout the hospital. With the new electronic system, each patient at Fleet Hospital Three receives an RFID Smart Band® (manufactured by Precision Dynamics Corp. of San Fernando, Calif.) with a TI-RFid™ Tag-it™ smart label inlay, on which basic identification information is stored. Medical professionals use a handheld RFID reader from A.C.C. Systems Inc. of Glen Head, New York, to read the unique identification number, and add or change data to create a digital treatment record that travels with the patient as he or she is moved throughout the facility. Using a wireless LAN, patient information is transferred to an electronic patient management system, further eliminating manual re-entering of data at a central computer terminal.
“When Fleet Hospital Three came to us at the Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory (NAMRL) looking for a system that would help streamline administration, patient ID and tracking while engaged in Iraq, we knew that TacMedCS would be a most effective solution,” said HMC Michael Stiney, U.S. Navy. “The ability to keep important information with each patient, and to track his or her whereabouts automatically, have helped medical professionals at this facility better manage patient care.”
Deployed for combat casualty care in a hospital location, the Navy is also exploring the use of TacMedCS for medics in the field. The system can quickly identify injured soldiers and record the types of treatment they receive. Using the GPS capabilities of the reader, information can be communicated back to commanders to expedite care and improve resource deployment. In the future, as the U.S. continually prepares for crisis scenarios, TacMedCS can be expanded as a logistics management tool to track First Responder equipment and personnel, and to improve record keeping. It fits seamlessly into command and control systems used in emergencies. RFID chips sewn into uniforms, or placed inside badges, and scanned at the scene of an event, allow personnel to identify the individual responders on site and log fire, police, and emergency responders in and out of chemical or biological hot zones, for example.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]About ScenPro, Inc.
ScenPro develops a variety of software applications that solve real-world problems involving information management for medical surveillance, casualty management and incident response efforts. The company also provides knowledge engineering services in the form of structured knowledge acquisition, scenario development, and process modeling. For more information, contact ScenPro at 972-437-5001, or visit the company’s Web site at www.scenpro.com.
About Precision Dynamics Corporation (PDC)
PDC is a privately held manufacturer with ISO-9001 certification. The company is a pioneer in automatic identification technology, having introduced the first patient bar code ID wristband in 1984 and radio frequency identification (RFID) wristbands in 2000. In addition to its expanding line of identification products, PDC also provides premium healthcare products for labor and delivery, urology, and other applications. For more information, call 818-897-1111 or visit www.pdcorp.com.