EMRI Awarded in the Health Care Category in Washington by Computerworld Honors Program

The Emergency Management and Research Institute, EMRI received top recognition in the Health Care category at the 2008 Computerworld Honors Program. This award ceremony was held in Washington. The award was received by Verghese Jacob, chief integrator and lead partner of Byraju Foundation. EMRI runs the 108 emergency number in three states, viz Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Uttarakhand.

The three states, with a combined population of about 130 million people, now have access to automated emergency call center services developed by the Emergency Management and Research Institute.

The 10 organizations that received awards this year were chosen from among 50 finalists, five in each of the categories. The finalist came from a group of 204 companies and organizations designated as 2008 Laureates for submitting case studies about technology projects that met criteria for originality, breadth of vision and significance to society.

EMRI mobilizes help as soon as someone dials 108 on a phone. That three-digit number puts callers in touch with a 24×7 dispatch center that can automatically notify police, fire and medical authorities of emergencies, log calls for audio replay and send out a fleet of EMRI-operated ambulances equipped with technologies such as GPS locators and videoconferencing links that let doctors view real-time patient data, such as cardiac information.

When one calls 108 to report an emergency, the call receiver at the Emergency Response Center (ERC) will gather the necessary information, regarding the type of Emergency and the location of the emergency scene whether the call is from a District/Mandal/City/Town/exact location/landmark. After gathering the information, the Dispatch Officer in the Emergency Response Centre dispatches either the Ambulance, Fire vehicle or the Police vehicle depending on the type of Emergency. The Emergency Response Centre Physicians (ERCP) and the Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) in the Ambulance will provide free pre-hospital care while transporting the victim in the ambulance to the nearest hospital of his choice. If the victim is not in a condition to specify his choice of hospital, then the ambulance will transport him to the nearest Government run hospital or a Primary Health Center (PHC)