East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) uses RFID technology to track equipment
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The management of key equipment on an ambulance is not only to ensure that these items are present on the ambulance when needed, but the staff also needs to perform regular maintenance on these equipment to make them function properly. Therefore, East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) deployed an RFID solution called CheckedOK to track medical equipment in ambulances.This solution is provided by CoreRFID, which includes EPC Gen 2 UHF passives attached to medical equipment (resuscitation machines, ventilators, monitoring equipment, etc.)RFIDTags, handheld readers for reading tag ID numbers, and data processing software stored on the CoreRFID server.
EMAS has 2,700 employees and 450 ambulances. Each ambulance is equipped with a set of specific tools and equipment for emergency treatment. Before deploying the CheckedOK system, EMAS used a database to manage these devices. EMAS assistant Richard said that as long as the status of these equipment is correctly entered and updated, the staff can find the status and location of the required equipment in the database. However, because RFID technology is not used, the company cannot guarantee that these data are correct.
CoreRFID sales manager Adam Robinson said that CoreRFID began to deploy this solution for EMAS last year. Initially, CoreRFID’s CheckedOK was developed for the construction, engineering, and facility management industries. The CheckedOK medical version includes two types of passive EPC Gen 2 UHF tags and handheld readers. CoreRFID also deployed data processing software on its own server.
Richard said that EMAS deployed approximately 3000 to 4000 Micro and Xerafy Titanium Metal Skin flexible labels on medical equipment.
Every other month, the staff will take out the equipment in the ambulance to clean, inspect and return it to the same ambulance. Therefore, in the absence of RFID tags, this process often makes mistakes.
With the use of CheckedOK, EMAS staff can know the status of each item in real time.First, the staff used ATiD AB700 handheldReaderEnter the ambulance ID number into the software. In the event of any problems, a reminder will appear on the reader screen.
When the equipment needs maintenance, the maintenance details will also be displayed on the reader screen. At this time, the staff can move these devices to the service area and use the reader to update the item status information in real time.
The collected RFID data will be uploaded to the CoreRFID server via WiFi and processed by software. At the same time, the staff can obtain these data in the office.
Through software query, EMAS can not only ensure that the ambulance is fully equipped, but they can also ensure that all equipment is in good condition.
Richard said: “Currently this system is working well and it can provide all the functions we need.” He added that in the future we hope to add a daily maintenance report function.
Since deploying this system for nine months, EMAS has saved a lot of time spent searching for items. Of course, it is too early to measure the benefits of this system.
(Exclusive manuscript of rfid world network, please indicate the source author for reprinting!)
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