Indirect tracking of patients in mass casualty incidents

Abstract

In MCIs (mass casualty incidents) patient tracking is cumbersome when using paper based approaches. Due to the fact that the spatial positions of the patients are essential in MCIs, we equipped the relief workers with electronic devices. We analyzed two concepts for patient tracking: direct and indirect tracking. The indirect tracking turned out to be superior with regard to the requirements from Feuerwehr TUM (Technische Universität München). An implementation and evaluation of this concept was performed within the scope of the SpeedUp project1. This project focuses on the development of strategies for reacting in mass casualty incidents (MCIs) in an appropriate way. In this paper we describe the background, the requirements, the concepts, the implementation and the evaluation. Finally, the results are presented and discussed.