With the wake of several natural and man-made disasters over recent weeks, we are reminded of the challenges of treating injured and wounded people during a crisis. With this as a backdrop, we realize how important preserving health data during a disaster is for patient safety and treatment.
In the recent hurricanes that hit Houston and Florida, we saw many people displaced from their homes. One of the most poignant moments was seeing the pictures of the elderly residents of a nursing center sitting in their flooded nursing facility, awaiting rescue. Additionally, caregivers had to handle the challenge of treatment without the availability of full patient medical information. Without portable, transparent medical records, the medical providers were not able to answer these questions:
- What medical conditions do they have?
- What medications are they on?
- Do they have any allergies?
- What are their care plans?
- Who are their emergency contacts and care providers?
- Do they have any advanced directives?
These same questions can come up during an emergency such as the mass shooting in Las Vegas last week. With hundreds of people flooding hospitals, emergency personnel were overwhelmed with patients, panic and inquiries. However, they faced a similar challenge with data. Unless a patient was an existing one in their system, they treat them without the aforementioned knowledge of allergies, medications and conditions.
A Solution for Preserving Health Data During a Disaster
ISeeYouCare’s Virtual Longitudinal Personal Health Record is an example of a solution for preserving health data during a disaster. First, the data resides in the cloud. This means it is accessible from anywhere that has access to the internet. Such a solution would be a tremendous improvement over the current system.
Second, the ISeeYouCare platform is portable. Patient Health Data is available in two ways:
- Our Smart Health Card – A Smart Health Card Management System allows caregivers to access all pertinent, structured patient data. This information can be accessed without access to the internet. This is a powerful tool in the hands of emergency personnel in ambulances and the ER.
- Our MyHealthMobile App – Our mobile application runs on IOS, Android and Windows devices. It structures all patient medical records in an easy to understand format. It’s portable, secure and can be a life-saver for patients in an emergency.
Contact us to find out more information about how our patented Smart Health Card Management System can help with the critical need of preserving health data during a disaster.