ASG Leverages the Power of Milestone and Axis to Develop Emergency Transport Notification Button
Challenge
Aronson Security Group (ASG) was approached by a medical transportation client and
hospitals in the Pacific Northwest to create a new emergency transport notification
button. The button is designed for use by hospital nurses when a medical transport is
needed. The stakeholders are dedicated to improving patient outcomes by providing
transport such as helicopter, fixed-wing, and ground ambulance support to seriously ill
or injured patients in a safe and timely manner.
The buttons previously in use were unreliable for a number of reasons. When a nurse
pressed one, there was no positive acknowledgement indicating that the order had been
received. Often, the nurse would have to also call the medical transport to assure the
order was received, which wasted valuable seconds in addition to the cost of monthly
telephone charges and the need for a modem purchase. ASG’s medical transport client
wanted to dramatically improve patient outcomes and create something that would
work for each partner’s specific needs.
A Simple, Effective Solution
ASG has years of experience installing Milestone XProtect video management software
(VMS) for a variety of clients. They knew that the Milestone rules engine would give the
input/output (I/O) integration functionality that was necessary to create this solution. The
open platform architecture of the VMS is designed just for such innovative integration of
multiple sensor data.
“We came up with the idea to use the Milestone software rules for an input for the button
and an output for a confirmation LED light,” said Steve Lowrance, director of product
management at ASG. “So when the button was pushed, positive acknowledgement
could be confirmed by a light turning on. It’s a simple but very effective solution.”
The Milestone VMS uses the same sensor monitoring methodology for the button as it
normally does for a video camera by indicating the performance of the camera back to
the base system installed in the transport company’s communications center. “We wanted
to be able to send a visual confirmation of the request back to their command center,”
said Lowrance.
Nurses and doctors in the hospital now have clear directives. When the hospital needs
medical transportation, a staff member hits the button. The button flashes red indicating
it is sending, and turns green when it is received. The Milestone rules engine processes
the request by automatically sending a message to the communications center, where it
not only flashes on the big screen in the room but also gets reproduced to the commu
-nication center phones and email. Additionally, a separate communication goes to the
regional director of the flight crew.
In this type of situation, every second matters. The transport company is communicating
with everyone as they concurrently verify pickup with the hospital. Thus, hospitals have
gained numerous benefits from instituting the new button system:
•The simplicity of a button initiates a life-saving medical transport. No manuals,
phones, or costly monitoring service is required.
•Multicolored LEDs provide clear and precise confirmation that the request was
properly sent and received, as separate tasks.
•The request process is reduced significantly from hospitals to the transport
company, saving crucial time in the transport of patients in crisis.
•Elimination of phone lines at hospitals and dispatch centers provides a sig
nificant monthly recurring cost reduction for better return on investment (ROI)
in the solution.
The transport company is ultimately more valuable in their market by providing
a service that is highly differentiated and helps save lives. ASG now offers the
innovative solution to other medical transport companies, adding value for the
entire industry.
Axis helps ASG to Institute Secondary Protocols
Lowrance and his team also discussed with hospitals what the best action was to indicate
if the LED light did not go on at the nurses’ station. They decided an email to a distribu
-tion group would be the best solution. Through the Milestone software, Lowrance was
able to set up an automatic email alert that goes out as soon as it is clear if the light has
not gone on after hitting the button to summon the transport.
In addition, hospitals wanted to add a redundancy protocol in case their servers were
down and email was unsuccessful. In this case, ASG turned to Axis Communications for a
solution.
“Axis network video cameras have scripting capabilities included in the I/O module,”
Lowrance said. “It allowed us to go into the camera unit itself and dictate that when the
signal for the button was received, x and y tasks should be done. Now we have Milestone
and Axis sending emails to ensure the system has multiple backups.”
Looking to the Future for More Integrations
The proof of concept (POC), originally designed for two hospitals, is now in 15-20 differ
-ent locations. Requests are continuing to come in from hospitals around the country, and
Lowrance sees more potential to this solution beyond the current iteration.
“Down the road as we develop it, this solution can be something we can sell to custom
-ers as an all-in-one,” Lowrance said. “They can request an IP network and we can plug it
into that network. Hopefully soon we’ll be able to build it into a self-enclosed 8×12 back
panel at hospitals. It will be completely self-contained, needing only a power outlet and
a network jack.”
Lowrance said ASG is also looking at extending the solution to airports where helicopter
flight crews are stationed. Often the emergency transport notification button is pushed
in the middle of the night when the crew is asleep.
“We’d like to be able to notify the crew of a call coming via an alarm or strobe,” Lowrance
said. “We’re also in discussions with 911 to give them the capability of calling for a medi
cal transport.”
Helicopters will keep blood and plasma on board for emergencies, each of which must
be kept at certain temperatures. ASG would like to install a temperature probe in the
refrigerators. If the temperature exceeds a certain threshold, an alarm would go off and
Milestone can act as the monitoring system of this sensor, just like it does for the button.
“This way, if a situation arises, on-board staff can take action and rectify the situation
before it’s too late,” said Lowrance. “We’re only beginning to scratch the surface of what
we can do with this flexible integration solution.”