Data collection in a live mass casualty incident simulation: Automated RFID technology versus manually recorded system

Objectives: To demonstrate the applicability and the reliability of a radio frequency identification (RFID) system to collect data during a live exercise. Methods: A rooftop collapse of a crowded building was simulated. Fifty-three volunteers were trained to perform as smart victims, simulating clinical conditions, using dynamic data cards, and capturing delay times and triage codes. Every victim was also equipped with a RFID tag. RFID antenna was placed at the entrance of the advanced medical post (AMP) and emergency department (ED) and recorded casualties entering the hospital. Results: A total of 12 victims entered AMP and 31 victims were directly transferred to the ED. 100% (12 of 12 and 31 of 31) of the time cards reported a manually written hospital admission time. No failures occurred in tag reading or data transfers. A correlation analysis was performed between the two methods plotting the paired RFID and manual times and resulted in a r=0.977 for the AMP and r=0.986 for the ED with a P value of less than 0.001. Conclusion: We confirmed the applicability of RFID system to the collection of time delays. Its use should be investigated in every aspect of data collection (triage, treatments) during a disaster exercise.