Development of an Information Technology System for the surge capacity of the Emergency Medical Operations Unit in Khon Kaen Province

Abstract

              This study is a research and development project aiming at developing an Information Technology System for the surge capacity of the Emergency Medical Operation Units in Khon Kaen Province. The study was conducted from January to December 2021 and involved six development steps: 1) Gathering requirements and analyzing problems through discussions with a sample group of 12 individuals; 2) Designing and developing a preliminary prototype system; 3) Testing the prototype and collecting data through discussions with a sample group of 21 individuals; 4) Analyzing requirements and conducting further development; 5) Implementing the working prototype in 241 operational units and conducting a randomized evaluation of user satisfaction with a sample group of 139 individuals; 6) Mainternance. The qualitative data was analyzed through content analysis and quantitative data was analyzed through statistical analysis, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. The mean was compared using a one-way ANOVA statistics.

               The study results of the Emergency Medical Services surge capacity Information Technology System show that it is a web application designed to record data through an online web browser. The system stores important data in a database and includes information about emergency medical personnel, emergency medical service vehicles, personnel specializing in emergency or disaster medical operations, and resources supporting emergency medical operations in disaster situations. The system is capable of real-time data processing. Users access the data by logging in with their username and password, based on their access levels. They can access the reporting system without logging in. The overall user satisfaction after using the system was found to be high. When comparing user satisfaction levels among different levels of Emergency Medical Operation Units (ALS, BLS, and FR), there was no statistically significant difference in overall satisfaction (p value = 0.062).