Healthy Response

When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) respond to a public health threat, a collection of state and local organizations are called to the scene. Accumulating data, testing samples and specimens, and disseminating information to people in the field are just some of the duties facing emergency response personnel. With the use of mobile technology, the CDC has discovered a more efficient way to respond to a health threat.

The organization has begun using handheld computing devices to help emergency response crews collect and disseminate field data more quickly and accurately. Furthermore, the CDC expects to make broad use of wireless and GPS technology in a state-of-the-art operations center, which is awaiting congressional approval.

Streamlining Data

Last fall, the United States endured a bioterrorist attack in the form of white powder sent through the mail. This spread of anthrax set into motion the combined efforts of numerous organizations to investigate its origin and contain its further spread.

"Public health is really a federation of a bunch of different organizations," said Dr. John Loonsk, associate director for Informatics with the CDC. "Some of the specimen collections and then testing was done by private contractors; some was done by state health departments; some was done by public health labs; and some was done by the CDC personnel and some was done by other federal personnel."

With information originating from this many resources, the possibility for data to be lost is high. The CDC recognized this and sought methods to keep the data intact and have a central repository to access it from.

"The number of samples that needed to be collected and managed was impressive to everyone," said Loonsk. "So one of the things that we recognized was that we really needed to have more consistency about how these data are collected so we can share them more readily."

Another issue the CDC faced was the amount of information included in the specimen collection. Not only did the organization need a place to store the data, but those involved in analyzing it had to be satisfied with the information collected.

"Another thing that we are always striving to do is get the best descriptive information on specimens and doing that in a way that really meets not only the epidemiologists' needs but the laboratorians' needs," said Loonsk.

Mobile Collection

CDC turned to mobile devices to make data collection easier and improve data management.

"One of the reasons we are interested in the handheld is to ensure that consistent data for specimens is collected and that the laboratorians -- when they get the specimen -- really know the information about it that they want," said Loonsk.

However, behind every good idea are challenges that slow momentum. "The teams tend to move around a lot, and it's unlikely a laptop would be viable in that context," said Loonsk. "Having a single device that does multiple functions in this regard is appealing. If you think about it, we're sending someone out with a blackberry, a cell phone, a laptop computer and a pager at times. It's one of the reasons why integration of these technologies is attractive."

Other challenges specific to CDC are the inability to control the effectiveness that mobile devices can offer. Issues surrounding infrastructure limitations can be detrimental in an emergency.

"The level of technical infrastructure varies tremendously when you're out in the field," said Loonsk. "Sometimes there are very mature capabilities in a state. And sometimes there are not. And we sort of have to be prepared for that and we have to be prepared for issues relative to integrating into their environment at times."

Emergency Data Center