Emergency Data Exchange Research Articles

Design of an Emergency Medical Information System for Mass Gatherings

BackgroundThe frequency of mass gatherings is increasing. Such events often involve many people and carry the risk of mass casualty incidents, which require substantial medical resources from various healthcare institutions. The current medical system, while meeting daily needs, struggles to address the demand for a high volume of emergency resources and real-time data exchange. ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to develop an emergency medical information system for mass gatherings. MethodsWe developed an emergency medical information system for mass gatherings. Based on a unified prehospital and intrahospital emergency data exchange protocol, we can directly standardize medical information data and provide data support for the evacuation decision support algorithms of multiple institutions. Wearable devices, vehicle-mounted devices, video calling systems and surveillance systems are connected to capture real-time scenes. ResultsWe constructed the system via mobile applications and online platforms and deployed it in 3 hospitals, 5 ambulances and 17 on-site medical locations. We constructed a set of electronic medical records covering the whole first aid process according to the basic principles of first aid. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm is suitable for mass gatherings. The overall survival rate of patients can be improved by 5%, and the average evacuation efficiency of patients can be improved by 50%. Furthermore, in a real-world environment, this method can ensure patient survival and achieve good convergence. ConclusionsOur system is capable of providing robust medical information support for emergency medical services during large-scale assembly events, ensuring a visualized full-process emergency response and decision-making for the diversion and subsequent transport of a large patient population.

PROMES: An ontology‐based messaging service for semantically interoperable information exchange during disaster response

AbstractDisaster response requires the cooperation of multiple emergency responder organizations (EROs). However, after‐action reports relating to large‐scale disasters identity communication difficulties among EROs as a major hindrance to collaboration. On the one hand, the use of two‐radio communication, based on multiple orthogonal frequencies and uneven coverage, has been shown to degrade inter‐organization communication. On the other hand, because they reflect different areas of expertise, EROs use differing terminologies, which are difficult to reconcile. These issues lead to ambiguities, misunderstandings, and inefficient exchange of data and information among those involved, which can impede the response process and slow decision making. We, therefore, hypothesize that promoting semantic interoperability across ERO information systems might improve information exchange among stakeholders and thereby allow a more coherent response to the disaster. We propose an ontology‐based messaging service on the basis of the Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL) standards. The parties involved will continue to use the terminologies to which they are accustomed, but the system will resolve inconsistencies and thereby enhance mutual understanding among EROs by ensuring semantic translation of the exchanged information. The evaluation of the semantic translation demonstrated the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed service.

Formalization of Learning Objects for Image-based Language Learning in Mobile Environments

Current mobile learning approaches demand for combining learning media and resources, open communities and customizable tool for individuals. We have focused on the formalization of learning digital resources using the Formal Learning Object Model (FLOM), which describes required components for constructing learning objects, their life cycle from inception to implementation, establishing tasks and roles of all actors involved in the development, learning, interaction, evaluation and feedback processes. The FLOM model has been evaluated on an image-based language learning application, which has been designed for interpretation of Japanese kanji and Mayan glyphs, using emerging data exchange technologies and some approaches for retrieval and visualization of multimedia documents in mobile environments.

Complexity and Usability of Voice-Enabled Alerting and Situational Reporting Decoupled Systems

Telephone calls are the predominant telecommunication mode in Sri Lanka (Zainudeen et al). Leveraging low cost voice-based applications for disaster communication would be acceptable and sustainable. The findings in this paper are from an experiment concerning interactive voice for connecting community-based emergency field operatives with their central emergency coordination hub. Challenge was in interchanging the Freedom Fone (FF) Interactive Voice Response (IVR) generated, Sinhala and Tamil language speech data with the text-based ’Sahana’ disaster management system for analysis and decision support. Human interactions with the two decoupled software systems to accomplish the sequence of tasks, point to instabilities. Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL), a XML-based, interoperable content standard was adopted for mediation between the two disparate systems. Low quality voice data resulting in incomplete information was a barrier to automating transformations between the FF IVR and Sahana. Replacing these processes with human procedures significantly degrades the reliability. This paper discusses the complexities, usability and utility shortcomings discovered through controlled-exercises, in Sri Lanka.

Useful and easy-to-use interactive voice for emergency data exchange

Purpose – Telephone calls are the predominant telecommunication mode in Sri Lanka. Consequently, leveraging voice-based applications for disaster communication would be acceptable and sustainable. The purpose of this paper is to realise the design requirements for an integrated voice-enabled alerting and reporting system, and then to use the lessons learned to influence disaster management researchers, practitioners and developers to invest resources in related new system developments. Design/methodology/approach – The findings in this paper are from an experiment concerning interactive voice for connecting community-based emergency field operatives with their central co-ordination hub. Findings – A particular challenge was in interchanging Sinhala and Tamil language speech data, generated by the Freedom Fone Interactive Voice Response, with the text-based “Sahana” disaster-management system for analysis and decision support. The Emergency Data Exchange Language interoperable content standard was adopted for mediation between the two disparate systems. Standard mobile phones were the interface linking the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) members. Low quality voice transmissions over the GSM cellular infrastructure resulted in distorted data. This shortcoming was a barrier to automating transformations between text and speech. Originality/value – Replacing those processes with human procedure significantly degrades their reliability. Nevertheless, the CERT members find voice-enabled information exchange useful and easy to use, because it diminishes the need for computer literacy and removes language barriers. The paper discusses the utility evaluation of the introduced system.

Emergency Healthcare Process Automation Using Mobile Computing and Cloud Services

Emergency care is basically concerned with the provision of pre-hospital and in-hospital medical and/or paramedical services and it typically involves a wide variety of interdependent and distributed activities that can be interconnected to form emergency care processes within and between Emergency Medical Service (EMS) agencies and hospitals. Hence, in developing an information system for emergency care processes, it is essential to support individual process activities and to satisfy collaboration and coordination needs by providing readily access to patient and operational information regardless of location and time. Filling this information gap by enabling the provision of the right information, to the right people, at the right time fosters new challenges, including the specification of a common information format, the interoperability among heterogeneous institutional information systems or the development of new, ubiquitous trans-institutional systems. This paper is concerned with the development of an integrated computer support to emergency care processes by evolving and cross-linking institutional healthcare systems. To this end, an integrated EMS cloud-based architecture has been developed that allows authorized users to access emergency case information in standardized document form, as proposed by the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) profile, uses the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) standard Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL) Hospital Availability Exchange (HAVE) for exchanging operational data with hospitals and incorporates an intelligent module that supports triaging and selecting the most appropriate ambulances and hospitals for each case.

Evolving an information logistics database for geospatial early warning systems

Information logistics are a central part of any early warning system (EWS) because warning messages and information are delivered to target groups with individual requirements, different levels of understanding, distinct perceptions and varying personal abilities. Nevertheless EWS architectures often neglect the importance of information logistics. Therefore, a database model as an architectural base layer of information logistics for geospatial EWS to disseminate customized messages in a multilingual environment is developed, providing a generic approach to be applied to each EWS. The database model is based on two recently introduced standards for exchanging all-hazard emergency alerts and public warnings over all types of networks and sharing systems among emergency information systems, the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) and the Emergency Data Exchange Language-Distribution Element (EDXL-DE).

Computational approaches to support image-based language learning within mobile environment

The exploration of emerging data exchange technologies and design of image-based language learning (IBLL) applications are presented in this paper. For integrating, the mobile devices to learning process the generic interfaces have been created for portable personal spaces (PoPS) providing mobile access to multimedia documents based on XML technologies. The IBLL implies image processing, recognition and retrieval, thereby some algorithms have been proposed for learning assistant applications used by mobile devices. Furthermore, for multimedia data exchange in wireless environment the compression of visual information based on wavelet transforms and several thresholding techniques are supported. The proposed approaches can suggest ways of studying and organising resources which provide long-term guidance on developing skills and support experiential learning. They have been tested for selecting the best ones with the highest processing speed and recognition grade for interpretation of Japanese kanji or Mayan glyphs on mobile devices with limited resources and restricted networking capabilities.

MayDayML Initiative — Emergency Data Exchange XML based Markup Language

MayDayML Initiative — Emergency Data Exchange XML based Markup Language

A workflow-based electronic marketplace on the Web

In this paper, we describe an architecture for an open marketplace exploiting the workflow technology and the currently emerging data exchange and metadata representation standards on the Web. In this market architecture electronic commerce is realized through the adaptable workflow templates provided by the marketplace to its users. Having workflow templates for electronic commerce processes results in a component-based architecture where components can be agents (both buying and selling) as well as existing applications invoked by the workflows. Other advantages provided by the workflow technology are forward recovery, detailed logging of the processes through workflow history manager and being able to specify data and control flow among the workflow components. In the architecture proposed, the resources expose their metadata using Resource Description Framework (RDF) to be accessed by the resource discovery agents and their content through Extensible Markup Language (XML) to be accessed by the selling agents by using Document Object Model (DOM). The common set of Document Type Definitions (DTDs) are used to eliminate the need for an ontology. The marketplace contains an Intelligent Directory Service (IDS) which makes it possible for agents to find out about each other through a match making mechanism. References to the related Document Type Definitions (DTDs) are stored in IDS. The IDS also contains the template workflows for buying and selling processes.