Management of In-Field Patient Tracking and Triage by Using Near-Field Communication in Mass Casualty Incidents

Stud Health Technol Inform. 2017:245:1214.

Abstract

Near field communications (NFC) is an emerging technology that may potentialy assist with disaster management. A smartphone-based app was designed to help track patient flow in real time. A table-drill was held as a brief evaluation and it showed significant imporvement in both efficacy and accuracy of patient management. It is feasible to use NFC-embedded smartphones to clarify the ambiguous and chaotic patient flow in a mass casualty incident.

Keywords: Disasters; Smartphone; Triage.

MeSH terms

  • Communication
  • Disaster Planning
  • Humans
  • Mass Casualty Incidents*
  • Patient Identification Systems*
  • Smartphone*
  • Triage*