Dougherty County Emergency Medical Services and Dougherty County Public Health have teamed up to provide a better patient tracking system in a first responders emergency situation. The new tracking system is called HC Patient Tracking.

Providing first responders with reliable, fast and secure means of gathering vital data and sharing it in near real-time with both emergency and healthcare systems, HC Patient Tracking provides information necessary to make timely and informed lifesaving decisions and is available on any mobile device.

“The patient tracking system was purchased through the Healthcare Preparedness Program at the state level,” said Hank Wilson, the district emergency preparedness director for Southwest Georgia Health District. “It is made available to the Dougherty County EMS at no cost through the Region K Healthcare Coalition partnership.”

With scan barcodes located on triage tags or ID cards to create records, the record in HC Patient Tracking includes the date and time when it was scanned, as well as the GPS coordinates. Responders or triage personnel can add additional details to the records, such as detailed patient information, vitals, and injuries, as well as audio, video and still images. Any items included into the record will be associated with that person throughout the cycle of triage and care to discharge.

“This is the best emergency triage system we’ve ever used,” said Sam Allen, EMS Director for Dougherty County. “In dealing with natural disasters that create more urgency, the goal is to always be prepared and this system will allow us to be even more prepared for future disasters.”

The system was recently used when Dougherty County EMS partnered with the Marine Corps Logistics Base for an active shooter drill. The tracking system allowed EMS to assist MCLB with quickly identifying victims and ensuring they were categorized based on injury and transported to the medical unit most capable of serving their medical needs.

Wilson said Public Health is delighted to partner with Dougherty County EMS in implementing the initiative.