SAHC Pilots Disaster Equipment

The threat of mass casualty incidents and the need for disaster preparedness became reality to all Americans after 9/11 and again after Hurricane Katrina.

Emergency staff at Saint Anthony's Health Center have equipment that, in the event of mass injuries or casualties here, would keep track of patients from the time they’re triaged at the scene. Additionally it links with other health centers in the area, ensuring that family members can locate patients once they’re transported to a medical facility.

As part of an initiative by STARRS (St. Louis Regional Response System) Saint Anthony’s stands ready with the Symbol Handheld MC9000-K, a piece of equipment that looks and operates much like a scanner used in retail businesses.  With a keypad, 3-1/2 inch screen and Windows-based technology, emergency crews secure special barcode wristbands on patients at the scene, scan the barcodes on them, then transfer their vital information into a regional database – including where the patient is going for treatment.

Patient wristbands are color-coded to note patients’ condition, according to Kris Templin, Saint Anthony’s EMS Manager/Coordinator.

“Green means their wounds are minor and they are able to walk around. Yellow means they’re hurt in some way, maybe a laceration, for instance. Red indicates the patient was in urgent need of care and black means the patient is dead,” Templin said.

He said emergency workers and hospitals in St. Louis are already using this Windows-based technology on a daily basis. When patients reach the hospital the barcode bracelet is scanned again and the info is transferred to hospital records.

The equipment benefits patients, emergency workers, hospitals and other agencies by:

* Tracking medical patient injury and medical response at the scene

* Providing information in a central database to agencies and hospitals so patients can be located

* Accounts for all individuals treated in an incident, including the casualties at the scene.

Funding for the equipment was provided by STARRS, according to Templin.