Army plans wireless handhelds for battlefield medics

The Army will soon dole out ruggedized wireless handhelds to thousands of battlefield medics, that they'll use largely to capture and transmit basic information useful in caring for wounded soldiers. As part of its $750 million Medical Communications for Combat Casualty Care program, Army personnel working in combat zones like Iraq and Afghanistan have already gotten 19,000 laptops, handhelds and related systems. Medics will now be getting Motorola MC70 devices, thousands of which will be deployed by the end of the summer.

The devices have a 44-key keyboard, a touch screen and should soon provide both voice and data communications capabilities. It also includes a bar-code scanner for reading ID cards and medical labels. Perhaps the most important function of the MC70s, however, will be to collect injured soldiers' names, vitals statistics and the nature of the treatment they receive. The wireless devices will then transmit this information to waiting doctors and nurses at hospitals.

To learn more about this implementation:
- read this piece from Computerworld

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