Semandex(TM) Wins Grant from NIH to Develop Commercial Network for Improved Emergency Management

May 31, 2006; 09:10 AM

Semandex(TM) Networks, Inc. (www.semandex.net) of Princeton has received a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health and National Library of Medicine (NIH/NLM) to develop and test a commercial version of its Medical Emergency Disaster Response Network (MEDRN).

MEDRN helps emergency agencies and public health officials respond faster and more effectively to natural or man-made emergencies such as a pandemic, a terrorist attack, or a natural disaster. Its feasibility has already been demonstrated during a Phase I SBIR grant from the same sources.

Under the Phase II grant the company will provide a commercial version of MEDRN to a selected community for a pilot program, which will assess its effectiveness at improving management of both everyday incidents and major disasters.

MEDRN lets emergency agencies combine otherwise incompatible data systems into a single source of emergency information that first responders, emergency teams, hospitals, and public health agencies can use to share information and coordinate activities. If a hospital is in urgent need of surgical supplies, for example, it can immediately locate them by sending a query to the network, which automatically taps the logistic data of other agencies.

Among the types of data that agencies can make available are

-- Patient treatment resources (number and availability of hospital beds, types of facilities present, emergency personnel on call)

-- Dispatch system information (dispatch memos, location of EMS units)

-- Logistical resources in the possession of first responder groups (blankets, respirators)

-- Medical data from local labs

MEDRN makes this information accessible anywhere that team members have access to an IP connection, in the field as well as at a command center.

Since the network does not require a central database and seamlessly integrates other information systems, it also allows different communities to share emergency information in an "information mutual aid network."

"MEDRN gives everyone at every agency access to the data they need to accomplish their tasks and stay on top of an emergency situation," said Dan Reininger, president and CEO of Semandex. "Since they're getting better information, they can make better decisions. Because they all have the same information, they can work as a team instead of at cross purposes."

The Phase II SBIR grant covers the development of an emergency response and public health ontology for MEDRN; the customization of a portal interface to meet user needs; the development of semantic adaptors for databases and other information sources; and the establishment of a pilot program in a community in the Northeast.

"Our ultimate goal is to allow emergency response agencies to connect to MEDRN efficiently and cost effectively," said Reininger. "We're designing it as the backbone of an information sharing infrastructure for emergency response teams nationwide."