eTriage: A Wireless Communication Service Platform for Advanced Rescue Operations

In mass casualty incidents (MCIs) such as earthquakes, medical resources are overwhelmed by the number and severity of casualties. In this paper, we propose a wireless communication service platform in such situations for advanced rescue operations named eTriage. For this purpose, we have developed electronic triage tags by combining a small vital sensor with a wireless device. The electronic tag is attached to a casualty, and vital signs of the casualty are gathered via wireless ad hoc networks constructed by the electronic tags. Our platform provides ad hoc networks, which are very useful for various services such as localization and local map generation as well as monitoring of vital signs.