An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir April 2015 www.dfmagazine.ie 16 | A n Air Corps pilot has developed a new system that has enhanced the efficiency of air ambulance operations and is helping to save lives. An Cosantóir went to baldonnel to meet with Air Corps Press officer Capt brendan o'Dowd and the developer of the new system, Lt Colin Gallagher, a heli pilot with bE (Electrical & Electronic) and MEngSc degrees. An ST segment myocardial infarction (STEMI) is the deadliest and most common form of heart attack in the industrialised world. The STEMI requires urgent medical treatment and for the best outcome sufferers need to be receiving treatment at a cardio clinic within 90-minutes. (This period is often referred to as the 'golden hour'.) Evacuating a patient by air instead of by road can be a decisive factor in making the 90-minute target. However, an effective air am- bulance response also depends on knowing the exact location of the casualty. To this end Lt Colin Gallagher developed LocateMe112, which is used to pinpoint casualties' locations. The new system is so well regarded that it has been integrated into the HealthAtlas AeroMedi- cal application system developed by the Health Intelligence Unit of the HSE and OpenApp, and is helping to save lives. Lt Gallagher said: "Getting the exact location has always been a problem for primary response, where ground ambulance crews and the helicopter are tasked simultaneously to a distressed 999 caller. LocateMe112 takes advantage of current technology to provide an exact location within minutes." LocateMe112 enables the GPS chip on an emergency caller's smart- phone to be activated remotely by a link contained in an SMS text message, which rescue services can then use to pinpoint the exact location of the injured person. The key feature of LocateMe112 is that it doesn't require the installation of an app; the only requirement is that the caller has a smartphone with its location services (GPS) turned on. While Lt Gallagher's system is not unique, he used an Open Source code and developed his system for trial by the Air Corps. Lt Gallagher continued: "Once the concept was developed and run- ning it was then handed over to the Health Intelligence Unit of the HSE, and mounted on their mapping system (like a plugin), so that there was only one port of call for 999 operators and pilots." The Air Ambulance from No 3 Ops wing is often tasked by the National Aeromedical Co-ordination Centre (NACC) to attend 999 calls with directions given for roads, which are harder to follow by air. This difficulty was identified by the then EAS Detachment Commander, Comdt Phil Bonner, who set Lt Gallagher with the task of finding a technical solution to help locate the patients/casualties quicker. With a knowledge of satellite navigation and direction finding on mobile devices, Lt Gallagher set about developing a geolocation ap- plication program interface (API), in his own time, using W3C software technology based on HTML5 coding, as used by modern browsers on smartphones. Lt Gallagher added, "It doesn't have to be the patient's phone; it can be a relative or anyone at the scene, like a first responder." Lt Gallagher tested LocateMe112 by running if off his own home server for six months. Using friends and family in remote locations to accept the message he would locate them every time. by SGT WAYNE FITzGERALD Sgt Damian Faulkner, 105 Sqn

• Cover