ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Masahiro Okafuji, President & CEO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) is launching a new disaster response system that uses smartphone and IC tags. Instead of the conventional paper-based medical records called triage tags, the new system uses electronic medical records equipped with an IC tag; a method that effectively facilitates treatment of the sick and injured in the event of a disaster.

Medical care in a disaster requires rapid gathering of accurate information about the conditions, number, etc. of the numerous sick and/or injured victims. Nevertheless, the conventional paper-based medical records are insufficient for communicating information due to shortcomings such as being easily damaged. To resolve this problem, the new system allows the medical condition of the sick/injured to be quickly keyed into a smartphone at the disaster location. The information is sent to the server and transferred to the IC tag carried by the relevant individual. The entire process of treatment of a specific individual, from the disaster site to an appropriate medical institution, can be managed in the form of an electronic medical record, which ensures quick treatment and recovery of those who have incurred illness or injury in the event of a disaster.

In the near future, the new system　is planning to connect with the Emergency Medical Information System (EMIS) of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. After that, the system will be extensively available on a prefectural basis, facilitating the usual sharing of medical information with the electronic medical record system. Saving the information in the data server connected with the patient’s IC tag via cloud computing is expected to help consolidate usual management of medical information.

In cooperation with Tokyo Electronic Systems Corporation (headquartered in Kawasaki-shi; Shintaro Mori, President; hereinafter “TECS”), a multidisciplinary engineering company of the Toshiba Group, ITOCHU offers the following system packages for use in many different applications and locations, and it will be commercially available to municipal governments and hospitals. ITOCHU expects sales of 30 systems by fiscal 2013.

On September 1, a comprehensive operational test of the system was conducted in the comprehensive disaster response training for extensive patient transportation in Kochi Prefecture under the assumption of a massive earthquake in the nearby Nankai Trough. Successfully connecting four different locations within Kochi, including the disaster countermeasures office, first-aid station, key disaster medicine center and staging care unit, the system was shown to drastically improve gathering and management of information about the sick and injured.

Development of the system

TECS developed the system in collaboration with the Osaka General Medical Center of the Osaka Prefectural Hospital Organization.

System packages

System overview

Main functions

• Triage-based diagnoses of patients (e.g., STARTS, PAT, support of vital sign testing)
• Keeping updated on the sick/injured and details of their conditions and availability of healthcare providers (e.g., number, location)
• Continued monitoring of patients (e.g., treatment procedures, vital signs, stabilization system)
• Sharing of medical information with municipal governments and hub hospital
• Printing of staging care medical records (based on DMAT standard form)
• Chronological registration and viewing (audio and video information can be attached)
• Support of healthcare activities such as drug orders and imaging test orders
• Automatic collection of test results from the blood gas measurement device
• Support of confirmation of unidentified people’s safety based on portrait photos
• Information cooperation with Emergency Medical Information System (EMIS) (under coordination)

Information about TECS, a multidisciplinary engineering company of the Toshiba Group

Established	1992
Head office location	1, Komukai Toshiba-cho, Saiwai-ku, Kawasaki-shi
URL	http://www.tecs.toshiba.co.jp/
Capital	20 million yen
Number of employees	363 (as of the end of March 2012)
Business line	In space development, aviation, transportation, weather, information, communication and many other areas, TECS comprehensively contributes to development of social infrastructure in terms of systems, design, manufacturing, construction, installation, service, etc. The company handles orders for system development and solution proposal by utilizing its reliable core technologies fostered in the different areas.