Each day the Army's getting closer to identifying an approved mobile electronic device for Soldiers downrange. Meanwhile, we’re continuing to test how our systems and processes will fare in enabling medics to better document care—on the move—using that device.
A few months ago, we worked with our partners at the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) and the Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC) to successfully transmit electronic point-of-injury (POI) data from a commercial device to a central repository. The pilot successes and the medical transmission of data occurred in 60 seconds!
During an exercise at Fort Dix, N.J., medical personnel completed a digital version of the Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) card and a Military Acute Concussion Evaluation (MACE) form using the Samsung Galaxy S and the Dell Streak 5 (Android version 2.2 based operating system as reference platforms). The system worked as it was designed and the data was transmitted in less than 60 seconds from the hand-held device to AHLTA-T using a cradle connected to an MC4 laptop. Once the data was synched with AHLTA-T, it was then submitted directly to the Theater Medical Data Store (TMDS), the web-based application used to view Service members' medical treatment information recorded in the combat zone. The Motorola XOOM tablet was also used to capture the TCCC.
We set out to evaluate how well mobile hardware and accompanying apps would perform in a field environment and whether these were practical devices for medics to use when documenting patient care downrange. We used a prototype app, Patient, which was developed specifically for interfacing with the TCCC and MACE prototype apps. The two-day evaluation provided us the insights we need to make some adjustments.
The Android-based devices were pretty popular among the staff, but they did pose some difficulties for individuals who have larger fingertips. The Motorola XOOM tablet was definitely the favorite among the group because of the 10-inch touch screen, but its size and shape aren't practical for a medic on the move.
Overall, the handheld devices themselves were well received, but the tablets in particular need some improvements. We had to break out the beach umbrella to compensate for the sun glare on the touch screens. Thankfully, upcoming versions of these devices will correct this environmental concern so we don't have to arm every deployed medic with a beach umbrella, too.
These initial evaluations are encouraging and I do believe we can take this process overseas, but we're still waiting to hear from the Army as to which mobile hand-held devices/platforms will be chosen for use downrange. In the meantime, we're already seeing how the MC4 system can operate on commercial devices.