Background & Objective
In Rwanda, a mobile electronic Patient Care Report app is currently used for medical documentation by ambulance teams. However, it operates as an isolated solution without an integrated dispatch center for emergency call handling, triage, and resource coordination. The objective of this master project, conducted in cooperation with the Austrian Red Cross, is to design a central dispatch platform.
Research Design/Methodology
- Conducting stakeholder interviews to define functional and non-functional requirements.
- Developing and evaluating three distinct architectural alternatives: a Centralized Platform (Alt. A), an Integration Layer (Alt. B), and a FHIR-centric Model (Alt. C).
- Applying a weighted evaluation matrix to select the optimal architecture.
- Creating a prototype to visualize and validate the proposed dispatch workflows and system interactions.
Results/Discussion
Based on the evaluation matrix, Alternative A achieved the highest score (82.6/100). The design demonstrates how dispatchers can utilize a web-based dashboard for efficient call handling and vehicle allocation.
Perspectives/Implications
The proposed architectural design and the validated prototype provide a clear, evidence-based blueprint for the future technical development of the system.
References
Monares, Alvaro & Ochoa, Sergio & Pino, Jose & Herskovic, Valeria. (2012). Improving the initial response process in urban emergencies. Proceedings of the 2012 IEEE 16th International Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work in Design, CSCWD 2012. 10.1109/CSCWD.2012.6221846.
