Test and Evaluation of Patient Tracking Platform: Use of Near Field Communication

In an earthquake situation, medical response communities such as field and referral hospitals are being challenged with injured victims’ identification and tracking. In our project, we developed a patient tracking platform (PTP). In this platform, first responders triage the patients with an electronic tag that reports the location and some information of each patient during his or her movement. This platform includes 1) Near Field Communication (NFC) tags (ISO 14443), 2) Smart mobile phones (Android-based version 4.2.2), 3) Base station laptops (Windows), 4) Server software, 5) Android software to be used by the first responders, 5) Disaster Command software, and 6) System Architecture. Our model has been completed through literature review, Delphi technique, focus group, designing the platform, and was implemented in an earthquake simulation exercise. This paper presents consideration for content, function, and technologies that must apply for patient tracking in medical emergencies. The robustness of PTP was demonstrated in tracking 6 patients in a simulated earthquake situation in the yard of the Relief and Rescue Department of Isfahan’s Red Crescent.