Providing early resource allocation during emergencies: The mobile triage tag

Quick response is critical during an emergency situation. This paper describes a system based on mobile electronic triage tags that makes victim information available at the base of operations as soon as possible, thus allowing an early medical resource allocation and immediate action. The cornerstone of the system is mobile agent technology, which allows information to be transported asynchronously and reliably from terminal to terminal and not requiring any network infrastructure at all. This novel approach is ready to be used in the worst case scenario, where only small handheld devices carried by the emergency personnel are available, but also integrates well when synchronous connections are possible, for instance when a mesh network can be created. The system has been successfully implemented, showing the feasibility of the proposal. By using this low-budget system, the number of casualties during the triage stage of an emergency is expected to drop off. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.