Project Background
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in Europe are characterised by a heterogeneous landscape with diverse organisational setups, technology standards, coordination mechanisms and actors. This is the result of different historical and institutional contexts. However, these EMS are united by the common aim of providing timely care to casualties of sudden and life-threatening emergencies or disasters in cross-border settings and international humanitarian missions. Fostering the response capacities and increasing the cooperation of the Emergency Medical Services Systems (EMSS) is of decisive importance for strengthening the resilience of European societies.
During the prior iProcureSecurity (CSA) project, a large number of EMS were involved to identify, evaluate and prioritise future challenges and needs. The creation of an interoperable, flexible triage management system supported by modern technologies was among the most requested solutions in the context of security-related scenarios.
This iProcureSecurity PCP action is a result of those intense participatory processes. The action will lead to an innovative triage management system that supports the EMS on the field in the management of the Mass Casualty Incidents (MCIs). The envisaged solution will be extremely flexible and interoperable, in order to adapt to the different procurers’ needs.
Overall, the iProcureSecurity PCP Solution aims to: (a) Fully digitalise the triage management operations on the field, and provide guidance and support to the EMS practitioners; (b) Facilitate the communication and the information sharing among EMS on the field and external stakeholders. (c) Facilitate the decision-making process of the actors involved, by proving them with key information in real time, as well as with alerting and notification systems.
Following the EC Guidelines on Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP), through a competitive series of design, prototype and pilot steps, the iProcureSecurity PCP will contract suppliers to deliver the creation and deployment of the envisaged triage management system.
Project Objectives
For the iProcureSecurity PCP procurers, the key common challenges which were identified and discussed during the iProcureSecurity CSA project can be summarised as follows:
Objective 1
Quick and accurate overview of casualties and their status.
Objective 2
Decision support for better allocation of available resources & quicker support for casualties.
Objective 3
Improved interoperability with other first responders and relevant actors.
Objective 4
Reduced handover times between ambulance transport and hospitals.
Objective 5
Insights
for quality assurance
and training measures.
The triage management system is the core component for digitalisation, as it has the vital role of receiving data from the involved endpoints (sensors, services, applications), complements it with contextual data and distributes it to downstream systems, while providing information to decision makers on- and off-site to support the management of the incident situation.
Project Facts
Duration: 09/2021 to 08/2024
Programme: Horizon 2020 / SU-GM02-2018-2020 / Pre-Commercial Procurement
Reference: 101022061
Project Methodology
iProcureSecurity PCP follows the stages of the PCP process as set-out by the European Commission, i.e. work will be divided into four subsequent phases:
- Phase 0: Preparation phase (8 months) and Call for Tenders (4 months)
- Phase I: Concept design, solution architecture and technical specifications (4 months)
- Phase II: Development of prototype systems in two iterations (8 months)
- Phase III: Development and testing of pilot systems (8 months)
In parallel to these phases, separate work strands for co-design, evaluation & impact assessment, dissemination and project management will support the project objectives.
Project Impacts
Improved Efficiency and Reliability of the Triage Process
The technical platforms established during the PCP will impact on the efficiency and reliability of the triage process by providing the technical means to document the outcome of the initial primary triage and additional triage steps, the treatment victims receive on site, up to the transportation to the hospital, to create a detailed, continuous digital triage documentation for every victim on site, without media-disruptions.
Improved Flexibilty and Scalability of Triage Processes
The digitalisation will have an impact on the adaptability and scalability of the triage process on site.
Improved Interoperability on a National and International Level
The semantic-, data- and technical interoperability of the involved components positively impacts the cooperation of organisations on site, as it supports the seamless cooperation between different EMS, LEAs, other relief organisations or (near-) governmental organisations involved in the resolution of the incident.
Consolidated European Market and Innovation Procurement
By establishing an accepted and practically applied interoperability concept, the industrial development of technologies can be aligned towards a common direction, as it provides a broad baseline for the development and integration of sensor technologies, devices, applications and services.
Availability of Accurate Data for Standardisation and R&D Initiatives
The data gathered in incident situations and exercises will span over the entire pre-hospital triage process, and as such include information on the initial triage classification, a continuous re-triage, the received treatment and related logistic activities. This way, an extensive repository of structured data is generated, which is beneficial for further research and development activities.
Highlighting the Benefits of Pre-Commercial Procurement
The advantage of the PCP is the articulation of a clear technological demand to fill these gaps from a buyers’ perspective, which provides industry companies, research institutes and SMEs a detailed insight into the challenges, requirements and operational routines to consider in their R&D and product development, but also to understand the size and potential of the business market they are addressing.
Deliverables
WP1 Project Management, Consortium Coordination, and Reporting
D1.1 Kick-off meeting report
D1.3 Progress Report
D1.4 Final Project Documentaton
WP2 Specifications for Triage Management Systems for EMS
D2.1 Requirements for Triage Management Systems for Emergency Medical Services
D2.2 Use cases and process models for Triage Management Systems for Emergency Medical Services (v1)
D2.3 Final use cases and process models for Triage Management Systems for EMS
WP3 Pre-Commercial Procurement Preparation
WP4 Call for Tenders
D4.1 Call for Tenders results
WP5 PCP Phase I: Solution Design
D5.1 Phase I results
WP6 PCP Phase II: Prototype Development
D6.1 Phase II results
WP7 PCP Phase III: Implementation and Operational Testing
D7.1 Phase III results
WP8 Evaluation and Impact Assessment
D8.1 Methods for prototype tests
D8.2 Evaluation framework for iProcureSecurity PCP
D8.3 Interim report on exploitation and procurement planning
D8.4 iProcureSecurity PCP exploitation and procurement plans
D8.5 iProcureSecurity PCP Pilot Outcomes
WP9 Communication, Dissemination, Tender Promotion, and Networking
D9.1 Project website, social media channels and communication activities
D9.2 Dissemination & communication plan
D9.4 Dissemination package 2
D9.5 Dissemination package 3
D9.6 Symposium summary
WP10 Ethics requirements
D10.1 H - Requirement No. 1
D10.2 POPD - Requirement No. 2
D10.3 H - Requirement No. 4
D10.4 GEN - Requirement No. 5
D10.5 GEN - Requirement No. 6
D10.6 GEN - Requirement No. 7
D10.7 GEN - Requirement No. 8