System and method of aggregating and disseminating in-case-of-emergency medical and personal information

Abstract

A system for aggregating and disseminating in-case-of-emergency (ICE) medical information to medical units. The system includes an ICE medical record server that stores medical records of respective subscribers, and automatically receive updates from health service entities visited by subscribers. When contacted by emergency dispatchers or first responders, the server sends subscribers medical information to first responders, emergency management agencies directly, via a dispatcher, or via a computer aided dispatch (CAD) system. The medical information may be arranged, emphasized, and / or filtered in a manner relevant to the on-going emergency. A communication device may wirelessly receive the medical information and pre-populate a pre-hospital care form with the information, which may be further orally annotated by the first responder. The completed PCR may then be sent to a PCR server for subsequent access by medical units that subsequently treat the subscriber. The medical server may further assist a public health agency to disseminate emergency information to selected subscribers, responders, and public health alerting systems. An ICE personal server for storing important personal documents is also disclosed. A PCR server is also disclosed that can disseminate aggregate PCR information in near real-time to an emergency management agency (EMA) system for developing incident response plans during a wide area emergency.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO A RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application is a continuation-in-part (CIP) and claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. application, Ser. No. 11 / 223,653, filed on Sep. 8, 2005, and entitled “System and Method for Aggregating and Providing Subscriber Medical Tnformation to Medical Units”.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]This invention relates generally to information management systems, and in particular, to a system and method for aggregating and disseminating in-case-of-emergency (ICE) subscriber medical and personal information.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]When a person is in need of medical assistance, a first responding medical unit (typically referred to as a “first responder”) is dispatched to assist the person with the emergency. First responders are typically mobile medical units, such as paramedics and emergency medical technicians (EMTS). First responders may also be government emergency medical units, such as those under the Federal Emergency Manag...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0023]In yet another aspect of the invention relates to an ICE medical record server and PCR server that can send aggregate information to an emergency management agency (EMA) server in response to a wide area emergency so that the latter can incorporate near real-time emergency medical services resources when conducting incident response planning and emergency management. The ICE medical record server aggregates the subscribers personal medical records based upon defined criteria from the EMA server. The ICE medical record server then sends a plurality of subscriber medical records to the EMA server so that emergency medical resources can be assessed, allocated, or dispersed prior to first responder deployment. If the emergency continues, the PCR server receives a plurality of PCRs from first responders arriving on scene providing emergency medical treatment. The PCR server then aggregates the PCRs and first responder resources, and then sends this information to the EMA server in near real-time. This would enable near real-time incident response resource planning and emergency management.

Problems solved by technology

However, in many emergency medical situations, a patient is unconscious and unable to provide such medical information to a first responder.

Even if such patient is conscious, the patient may not be able to provide accurate information because of his / her emotional and medical state.

Another problem with relying on the patient for medical information is the patient's faulty recollection.

For example, many patients have a difficult time recalling names and dosage of prescription drugs they are currently taking or the names of medical procedures they have received in the past.

When first responders arrive on the scene, they may in times leave their vehicles and travel long distances to the patient.

For example, a first responder attending to a patient suffering a heart attack may not want medical history information regarding a prior treatment for a broken leg.

Currently, there is no automated method to transmit real-time patient outcome information in aggregated format to public health and emergency management officials.

The result is a lack of information preventing emergency response planning and incident resource planning.

The problem with a broadcast is that a specific medical condition audience cannot be targeted.

For example, hurricanes and other large scale natural disasters may cause widespread damage requiring evacuation.

During a mass evacuation, the collection of legal and other important documents may not be feasible.

Many people opt to place such documents in safety deposit boxes, but as Hurricane Katrina showed, even such measure may not be adequate.

Even if the bank is not submerged, access to documents may take a long time until the area is declared safe.

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