title: Advanced communication infrastructure for pre-hospital EMS care.
abstract: The traditional communication infrastructure of the pre-hospital Emergency Medical System (EMS) is limited to voice communication using radio or cell phone technologies. With the emergence of 3rd Generation wireless networks (3G) and enhanced mobile devices capable of data communication (e.g., mobile tablets, PDAs with cell phones, or cell phones with PDA capabilities), the voice communication can be enhanced with interactive data messaging and perhaps even with interactive video communication. However, video requires substantially more bandwidth which 4th Generation (4G) systems are promising. However, their availability is limited. We present an infrastructure that allows dynamic selection of the best data transport mode in the pre-hospital EMS environment.
authors.affiliation: Health Informatics Program, Dept of Health Services Administration, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
authors.forename: Helmuth
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Orthner
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mazza
authors.forename: Giovanni Giorgio
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Mazza
authors.forename: Rohit
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shenvi
authors.forename: Marcie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Battles
mesh_terms: D000407:Alabama; D003195:Computer Communication Networks; D004631:Emergency Medical Service Communication Systems; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000379:methods*; D006747:Hospital Communication Systems; D013685:Telecommunications