An 802.11 wireless blood pulse-oximetry system for medical response to disasters.

In a mass casualty situation, medical personnel at the disaster site and other field treatment settings may need to monitor the vital signs of hundreds of seriously injured patients with minimal staffing. The conditions may be primitive and personnel may have to improvise infrastructure. As part of our research to enhance medical response to disasters with Internet-enabled systems, we have developed a prototype Wireless Blood Pulse Oximeter system for mass casualty events designed to operate in WiFi hotspots. Pulse ox units were designed using low-cost embedded system technologies to operate in integrated or stand alone environments. Units can report data to a command post on the scene or any remote location with Internet access. The entire system is potentially capable of tracking and monitoring several hundred patients.