Designing an Emergency Medical Information System for the Early Stages of Disasters in Developing Countries: The Human Interface Advantage, Simplicity and Efficiency

Abstract

The means of designing an effective user interface software package varies from one application to another. Almost the entire ICT infrastructure was damaged following the impact of the tsunami tidal wave. Under such circumstances, transporting critically ill patients is a must and becomes the first priority. Many considerations are needed when designing a specific user interface for emergency situations in developing countries. In this study we proposed how to design the user interface in order to support emergency medical care in the early stages of disasters. The user interface was classified into two tabs, firstly to indicate critically ill patients and secondly to notify details of the medicine having been administered to the patients. Classifying the user interface of emergency medical care information systems by using VHF radio connections will be beneficial, especially for the early stages of disaster-stricken developing countries, in order to preserve the lives of more victims.

Preparing routine health information systems for immediate health responses to disasters

“…Mass casualty management involves triage, the process by which health workers or triage officers at the disaster site determine transportation priority and admission to the hospital or health unit, and clinicians at the hospital or health unit assess patient needs and priority for medical care (PAHO 2000c; Sutiono et al 2010). An RHIS requirement in this triage process entails assigning and identifying patients with standardized triage tags, which should be a part of routine emergency care pre-disaster, and ensuring familiarity with this process and tags by all medical staff (PAHO 2000c).…”

“…casualty numbers, extent of workload) to the disaster health response team, and data transmission to the response co-ordinators from ‘on the ground’ health facility staff who remain operational. Ideally, disaster response requires affordable and portable communications which are independent of terrestrial systems or power lines and which can be set up within a few hours at any place (Wood 1996; Qiantori et al 2010; Sutiono et al 2010). …”

The Management of Medical Services in the Early and Late Phase of Tsunami: A Preparation for Humanitarian Health Assistance

“…Another important item is the network communication system. In developed countries like Japan these networks are well established, while in developing countries they are not, so that radio amateur communications or other data transmission systems are to be used (see for example the utilization of low-altitude platforms for emergency communication [1,8]). Without communication systems, the medical assistance in this period faces great obstacles, because some of the victims have to be evacuated to other hospitals, and one has to order medical devices or medicines for surgical treatments from other places.…”

“…In addition they can cause substantial damage to health services, which becomes an essential issue since these services are immediately needed for a quick medical response. If the medical response is late, then it leads to prolonging the provision of medical assistance especially to persons severely injured as well as to spreading of infectious diseases [1]. Indeed, suddenly after tsunami strikes the land, many people suffer traumatic injuries, that are caused by the impact of sharp or blunt objects.…”

Amateur Radio Communication Technology Contingency Communication in Emergency Situation

“…Emergency Communications (EC) may include early warning, command on the evacuation, curfews and other self-protection measures and other matters which influence relief, response and recovery activities [2,3,18]. Many disasters led to the breakdown of existing infrastructure, and resulted in the loss of many live and damages to properties [1].…”