 RFID wristbands for patients
could save lives in emergencies
From Texas Instruments Radio Frequency
Identification Systems 
In major medical emergencies or disasters, large numbers of patients can
arrive at medical centres with their medical records either missing, damaged
or difficult to read resulting in confusion for busy medical staff, delays
and even wrong treatment for patients.
To overcome this problem, French company Verger Brun Tracemed has
pioneered the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) wristband tag
from Texas Instruments to digitally record patient medical and treatment
files directly to a wristband attached to the patient. The data is stored on
the wristband and remains securely with the patient from accident to the
hospital. At the hospital, the tags are read by a handheld RFID reader,
eliminating mix-ups due to lost or damaged medical records, human reading
errors etc, allowing treatment to begin immediately they arrive. In
addition, the digital data can be radioed ahead to the hospital so they are
fully prepared for the casualties. The company says the system can be used
by both civilian and military emergency services and is currently being
evaluated by the French emergency services.
The system eliminates problems with handwritten paper medical records
which are liable to be misread, damaged or lost especially in medical
emergencies and as a result of physical damage, rain or mud.
Verger Brun Tracemed developed the entire system including TRACE MED
software which manages the storage and transmission of the data to and from
the patient tags and PDAs. The company is also developing multilingual
versions allowing use by multinational emergency services in times of
disaster or attack, and also by civilian and military organisations
including firefighting services.
The system allows details of patient’s injuries, medical condition and
treatment to be recorded electronically to the RFID wristband as they are
actually being treated at the emergency site or in the ambulance. The entire
medical data can also be sent to the hospital by radio link using GPRS,
Tetrapol, satellite etc, so the hospital has all the data on injuries and
previous patient treatment well before the injured arrive, allowing faster
more accurate medical response especially and helping to save lives.
Each patient is fitted with a wristband containing a Texas Instruments
RFID chip at the site of the emergency. Patient identification and medical
data is then written to the RFID tags using mobile PCs or PDA (personal
digital assistant) units. The PDAs can be linked by Bluetooth radio to the
ambulance’s mobile medical equipment such as electrocardiographs, blood
pressure and blood gas analysers etc., allowing medical data to be instantly
downloaded direct to the wristband tags where it is stored as part of the
patient’s medical file.
The PDAs can also be linked to the ambulance’s communications system
allowing the complete patient data file data to be instantly transmitted to
the main medical centre so the hospital has up-to-date information on
casualties etc as early as possible. Data on the patient ID tags can be
updated with new treatment, drugs administered etc, even while the patient
is being treated in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, so the medical
files are always up to date.
The RFID wristbands are extremely rugged and data is read from them using
a handheld reader much more quickly and reliably than from paper records.
Also, since the medical data is permanently attached to each patient at all
times, medical files are never lost or misplaced, greatly reducing the
possibility of errors and speeding up treatment at the hospital. The data
can be password protected for privacy and stored on the tags indefinitely
with no loss of information.
The system also allows ambulance staff to gain immediate access to
databases of treatment protocols, drugs and toxicology via their PDAs with
2-way data communications with the hospital, allowing correct treatment to
be given much more quickly before the patient even arrives at the hospital,
thereby helping to save lives and improve patient care.
More information at
www.ti-rfid.com
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