Communication Systems
Topic Collection
September 20, 2018
Topic Collection: Communication Systems
Robust communication systems can allow first responders and medical professionals to maintain communication after a disaster. Back-up systems should be established based on best practices and tested regularly. The resources in this Topic Collection include promising practices, reports, evaluations, and overviews of programs focused on creating and maintain resilient emergency communication systems.
Each resource in this Topic Collection is placed into one or more of the following categories (click on the category name to be taken directly to that set of resources). Resources marked with an asterisk (*) appear in more than one category.
Must Reads
The authors discuss communicating among medical personnel during disasters and highlight findings from the use of a mobile emergency application (which is not available anymore) and server device to cope with emergencies and facilitate all the related activities and communications (e.g., tracking patients, contacting others, and guiding medical personnel with help from the command center). The research was conducted in Italy, but may be useful to healthcare practitioners and planners in other countries to suggest system features or development ideas.
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This EU based research report discusses the needs and methods for communicating to health professionals in epidemic situations, based on challenges in reaching all these professionals during the 2009 H1N1 outbreak.
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The resources on this page provide an overview of the program used by the Arlington County (VA) Auxiliary Communications Service, a history of the program, standard operating procedures for hospital disaster teams, and two training resources (one for hospital staff and another on message handling).
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Amateur/Ham Radio Resources
The Hospital Disaster Support Communications System (HDSCS) is a group of volunteer Amateur Radio ("ham") operators who are available to provide backup internal and external communications for critical medical facilities in Orange County, California when necessary. HDSCS has been operational for more than 35 years; their website includes links to relevant resources.
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The author emphasizes the importance of emergency preparedness for amateur radio operators who support medical facilities.
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The resources on this page provide an overview of the program used by the Arlington County (VA) Auxiliary Communications Service, a history of the program, standard operating procedures for hospital disaster teams, and two training resources (one for hospital staff and another on message handling).
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Applications and Technology
The authors discuss communicating among medical personnel during disasters and highlight findings from the use of a mobile emergency application (which is not available anymore) and server device to cope with emergencies and facilitate all the related activities and communications (e.g., tracking patients, contacting others, and guiding medical personnel with help from the command center). The research was conducted in Italy, but may be useful to healthcare practitioners and planners in other countries to suggest system features or development ideas.
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This article describes personal health records (PHRs) and their utility in disaster situations. It contrasts the instant availability of PHRs against the electronic medical record/health records that require 3rd party (provider) routing.
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This position paper, which is based on a review of the literature and a field case study, discusses the strategic value of integrating RFID into e-government development and government's comprehensive natural disaster management policy for improved preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation.
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This presentation demonstrates the feasibility of using cost-effective, flexible, and scalable sensor networks to address critical bottlenecks of the emergency response process in lieu of manual vital measurements, paper documentation, and radio communication.
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The presenters demonstrated the feasibility of using electronic medical information tags to track patients through the disaster response process. They also reviewed positive results from two pilot tests.
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The authors studied the feasibility of using mobile phones and short message service (SMS) texts to collect situational awareness data through surveys during simulated public health critical events during a university-based pilot study.
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The authors discuss the wireless transmission of vital health data in disaster situations and a fair way to prioritize patient data categorization and transmission when there is bandwidth congestion or connectivity issues.
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This article discusses the benefits of an interdepartmental mission control system that can help healthcare providers visualize throughput, flow, and real-time bed capacity in a hospital or hospital system.
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This article is a review of electronic patient tracking systems and their ability to mitigate problems experienced with tracking patient movement in Hurricane Katrina.
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The authors reviewed a variety of ad hoc networks in disaster scenarios. They found these networks feasible and emphasized the importance of smartphone interoperability because of their wide use by the healthcare and other responder populations.
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General Information
This expert roundtable summary includes recommendations for communications policies, protocols, and capabilities during a large-scale radiological event. Overall, participants recommended that hazard-specific communications plans be integrated into a hospital's all-hazards communications plan.
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The author provides an overview of traditional communications tools and related failure modes, followed by an overview of alternative strategies (e.g., infrared, microwave, and satellite).
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The authors compare the capabilities of two popular systems used to collect and map open source disaster information: Project Epic’s Tweak the Tweet (TtT) and Ushahidi. The research compares and contrasts the frequency, content, and location components of information in both systems. Based on the results, the authors identify considerations for future social media mapping tools to support crisis management.
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This article describes study results outlining technological and communication issues between Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Emergency Department (ED) teams. The authors note that the coordination of awareness, context, and workflow are key for next generation communication tools.
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The authors discuss the use of decision support systems for improving instant communication regarding command/control and resource allocation during disasters.
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Guidance/Guidelines
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued the Emergency Preparedness Requirements for Medicare and Medicaid Participating Providers and Suppliers Final Rule to establish consistency for healthcare providers participating in Medicare and Medicaid, increase patient safety during emergencies, and establish a more coordinated response to natural and human-caused disasters. This document provides links to numerous related resources applicable to a variety of providers and suppliers.
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U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2015).
GETS FAQ.
This webpage includes answers to frequently asked questions about the Government Emergency Telecommunications Service.
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U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2015).
TSP FAQ.
This webpage includes answers to frequently asked questions about the Telecommunications Service Priority program.
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Lessons Learned
Radio devices typically cannot communicate with each other unless they operate on the same frequency and use the same mode without a dispatcher. This vendor-produced case study described the use of a Land Mobile Radio-over-IP option to address this challenge and found it increased communications, reduced costs, and was a flexible and resilient tool.
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The authors conducted a qualitative study and share anecdotal evidence suggesting communication mistakes (e.g., interoperability, infrastructure issues) are still being repeated, incident after incident. Suggestions for improvement on a variety of disaster-related topics are included.
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This EU based research report discusses the needs and methods for communicating to health professionals in epidemic situations, based on challenges in reaching all these professionals during the 2009 H1N1 outbreak.
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This article discusses the utility of phone tree protocols for mobilization of ED staff in a New York City Hospital, and the importance of testing them in advance of an emergency.
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This article describes research showing preparedness gaps in Pennsylvania Hospitals and the importance of emergency communications equipment for increasing worker safety in relation to violent patients and visitors.
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This article describes a World Health Organization Quality Improvement Study for disaster communications. Findings include the need for employee listservs, international media contacts, pre-written public service announcements in multiple languages on questions that frequently arise during disasters, and a central database that can house this information.
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Pages 21-23 of this document focus on communications lessons learned by staff from Mercy Hospital in Joplin and how they can be incorporated into healthcare facility emergency plans.
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Operational Policies/Procedures
This webpage highlights the role of this federal division (to establish, maintain, and coordinate emergency communications services and information systems critical the coordination of the federal government’s response before, during, and after an incident or planned event). Information on the six Mobile Emergency Response Support detachments and numerous Mobile Communications Office Vehicles is also included.
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MNTrac (Minnesota system for Tracking Resources, Alerts and Communication) is a database-driven, password-protected web application designed to track bed capacity, but it also supports emergency incident planning, emergency communication, and emergency alert notifications in real time. It serves a variety of healthcare agencies, including hospitals, emergency medical services, public health, poison control, the state department of health, and skilled nursing facilities.
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Plans, Tools, and Templates
Emergency planners can use the information contained in this guide to develop materials based on commonly-used abbreviations, acronyms, and terms.
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This resource list contains links to tools and apps for disaster communication with an emphasis on reaching people with communication challenges.
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This template--geared towards a local, regional level--can help planners create a charter for an interoperability committee or governance group. It is laid out as a sample charter and includes suggested headings for each section as well as potential issues/questions that should be addressed when developing a committee.
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The Government Emergency Telecommunications Service is a federal communications system meant to be used in an emergency or crisis situation when the landline network is congested and the likelihood of completing a call using traditional methods is reduced.
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This federal program authorizes national security and emergency preparedness organizations to receive priority treatment for telecommunications services. Qualified applicants may request a code from the Department of Homeland Security that mandates telecommunications service providers to prioritize requests for new service, or to repair existing service if it lost, after a disaster.
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This webpage provides information on the Wireless Priority Service (WPS), a priority telecommunications service that improves the connection capabilities for authorized public safety and national security and emergency preparedness (NS/EP) cell phone users during emergencies.
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This 5-year strategy document outlines the federal direction for getting the latest interoperable communication technology to all disaster response entities across the nation.
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Agencies and Organizations
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