Disaster response app helps locate wounded soldiers

A new biosensor/geo-location application has captured the attention of the military and emergency responders, according to a story in MedCity News.

The Android application--from Peachtree City, Ga.-based healthcare technology solutions company Adhere 2 Care--combines a belt with built-in sensors that can indicate the location and body position of an injury victim, helping responders locate the individual during a crisis situation, particularly when there is no cellular service, company officials told MedCity.

What really caught the military's interest, though, was Adhere 2 Care's partnership with Reston, Va.-based broadband provider Oceus Networks, which can create portable cellular access points. For example, Oceus can set up a cellular switch in a truck, connecting to up to 1,000 users within a 40-mile radius. This allows responders to pick up the sensor's Bluetooth-enabled wireless signals on the battlefield, or in a remote emergency site, according to MedCity News.

The app also provides triaging capability, allowing responders to assign bar codes to those found at the incident site, and rank them according to their severity. And it contains a notification component, posting the biosensor and location information to a web-based portal that caregivers and family members can access.

Adhere 2 Care officials told MedCity that they could deploy the technology "right now," but added that the company is in need of some major capitalization--about $3 million.

Last summer, the U.S. Army announced it was testing out a geo-location, smartphone-enabled system to locate downed soldiers, along with other smartphone apps to deliver healthcare resources into the field. And another--Transportation Regulating and Command and Control Evacuation System (TRAC2ES)--helps track the movement of sick and wounded soldiers even when an Internet connection isn't available.

To learn more:
- read the MedCity News article