Medrn - a Mutual Aid Information Network for Emergency Response

Rapid and slow onset disasters require coordination between emergency responder and public health organizations. During a disaster many organizations are involved in the delivery of emergency services: emergency medical services (EMS), the fire and police departments, hospitals, public health officials, local authorities, etc. Resource planning, logistic coordination, and information sharing among all these units is therefore very important to save lives and reduce costs. To satisfy these needs, through grants from the National Library of Medicine, Semandex Networks is building the medical emergency disaster response network (MEDRN). MEDRN uses Semantic Network technology to facilitate the access, dissemination and sharing of information across all parties involved in emergency management. The technology is currently fielded by SPAWAR, the Marine Corps and other Department of Defense (DoD) and non DoD national security agencies