Medical teams dealing with major medical emergencies have an acute need to gather and share information about the overall situation at the site of an accident, and about the status of individual patients. Today, information about individual patients is usually recorded on paper forms accompanying the patients, and all exchange of important information is done using ad hoc voice communication by radio. This can lead to misunderstandings, poor information flow and difficulty in forming an overall picture of the status at the scene.
 
FieldCare is a SINTEF ICT project  which addresses these problems by providing technological solutions to support medical personell in carrying out their tasks at the scene of the accident. The system is based on mobile computers (PDAs/tablet PCs/laptops) that connect together in a wireless  adhoc network at the scene of the accident using short-range networks (e.g WLAN).  Long-range radio networks provide communication with  transport units and off-site hospitals.

The core functionality of FieldCare is to enable data-capture and workflow support at the point of origin and to replicate the information to  relevant personell  at all sites in a robust way. This provides real-time  tracking of patients from the point of care, through the transport stage back to the hospital  and helps medical teams at the hospital  prepare for the arrival of the injured. Instant access to information about patients, personell and resources (e.g. transport units) at all times  improves the efficiency  of  the rescue operation and enables improved quality of patient care during and after the emergency.