Florida leverages EMSystems' EMTrack and EMResource to manage Haitian earthquake patient evacuees

Milwaukee, WI - (February 8, 2010) – The State of Florida is currently leveraging EMSystems’® EMTrack and EMResource to collaborate, communicate, and manage resources with state, local, and hospital healthcare officials to track and provide medical care to the evacuees from Haiti and those associated with the Haiti earthquake disaster.

The State of Florida is using both EMSystems’ applications, EMTrack and EMResource, to support the management of healthcare delivery for Haitian evacuees entering Florida. The applications, including HAvBED capabilities and critical asset management, are facilitating communication among state and local public health and emergency management officials, as well as, hospital emergency departments, to identify resource and bed availability, update healthcare personnel of incoming evacuees, and track evacuees as they receive care and treatment.

Since the ramifications from the earthquake in Haiti are still unfolding, state health officials continue to prepare for a potential mass migration of patients and families from Haiti to Florida, resulting in a possible major impact on the healthcare system. As of January 26^th, rescue flights brought 14,457 evacuees to Florida's airports, according to the Florida Department of Children and Families. Of these evacuees, 386 required hospitalization and at this time 131 remain inpatients.

“EMTrack and EMResource provide our emergency response teams with real-time bed status at the hospitals, helping us to monitor each hospital’s internal capabilities to receive new, critical patients, and track those patients distributed to multiple hospitals through Central Florida,” states Dave Freeman, Disaster Coordinator for Orange County Health Services Department.

“In an unexpected emergency situation, like the State of Florida is currently experiencing, it is essential for hospitals and state healthcare officials to communicate with each other quickly and efficiently to ensure the patient’s safety and critical medical attention. EMResource and EMTrack are essential in our clients’ ability to prepare and respond to the needs of these evacuees through this unfortunate event,” states Andy Nunemaker, CEO, EMSystems.

EMSystems is also expediting handheld devices to the Regional Domestic Security Task Force (RDSTF) to further streamline the patient tracking process with the increase of patient evacuees.

EMSystems’ EMTrack was chosen as 2009 Frost & Sullivan Product Innovation of the Year Award. EMTrack is a multi-functional tracking solution that transforms the way healthcare officials collaborate to track people, patients, evacuees and associated property and equipment during hospital evacuations, large scale events, mass casualty incidents and public health emergencies.

About EMSystems

EMSystems, LLC is a recognized leading provider of comprehensive and interoperable technology solutions for emergency preparedness and response within the healthcare continuum. Serving more than 72% of the nation’s population, EMSystems’ solutions are used by thousands of hospitals, EMS providers, fire departments, law enforcement agencies and state/local departments of health. For more information please or to receive a copy of the report, please visit www.emsystems.com.