title: Secure scalable disaster electronic medical record and tracking system.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Electronic medical records (EMRs) are considered superior in documentation of care for medical practice. Current disaster medical response involves paper tracking systems and radio communication for mass-casualty incidents (MCIs). These systems are prone to errors, may be compromised by local conditions, and are labor intensive. Communication infrastructure may be impacted, overwhelmed by call volume, or destroyed by the disaster, making self-contained and secure EMR response a critical capability. Report As the prehospital disaster EMR allows for more robust content including protected health information (PHI), security measures must be instituted to safeguard these data. The Wireless Internet Information System for medicAl Response in Disasters (WIISARD) Research Group developed a handheld, linked, wireless EMR system utilizing current technology platforms. Smart phones connected to radio frequency identification (RFID) readers may be utilized to efficiently track casualties resulting from the incident. Medical information may be transmitted on an encrypted network to fellow prehospital team members, medical dispatch, and receiving medical centers. This system has been field tested in a number of exercises with excellent results, and future iterations will incorporate robust security measures.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A secure prehospital triage EMR improves documentation quality during disaster drills.
authors.affiliation: 1 University of California, San Diego Health System, UCSD EM Department, San Diego, California USA.
authors.forename: Gerard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Demers
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kahn
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Johansson
authors.forename: Colleen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Buono
authors.forename: Octav
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Chipara
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Griswold
authors.forename: Theodore
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D016494:Computer Security; D004190:Disasters; D057286:Electronic Health Records; D006801:Humans; D010355:Patient Identification Systems; D057233:Radio Frequency Identification Device; D059015:Wireless Technology