Walter Reed launches mass communication system
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The AtHoc Interactive Warning System enables IP communications and alerts across the Walter Reed campus.
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) has launched a system for mass notification and interactive hospital communications, which will enable the health care center to integrate messaging across once separate campuses. Established in 2011, WRNMMC of Bethesda, Md., comprises two renowned health care institutions, Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the National Naval Medical Center, also known as Bethesda Naval Hospital.
WRNMMC implemented the AtHoc Interactive Warning System (AtHoc IWS), which enables IP-based interaction among all 12,000 on-premise medical staff, keeping personnel accurately informed and ensuring business and operational continuity in emergency situations. AtHoc leverages mobility, cloud and the IP network for rapid and pervasive two-way communications with anyone in the organization at any time.
Converging physical security and safety into the IP system, emergency managers are able to leverage all assets to issue interactive warnings with enterprisewide reach throughout an entire healthcare facility. According to AtHoc, the IWS suite enables:
- A nurse to activate a one-click, geo-tagged emergency alert from her smartphone and receive immediate help at her location.
- An operations center to view an event via rich media — photos, audio, video, texts, and maps — from hundreds of employees and field personnel to assess an unfolding event.
- Emergency managers to send maps of cordoned areas to security forces and forward evacuation routes to affected personnel.
- A base commander to account for all personnel and view base status in detail, following an emergency.
WRNMMC said it chose AtHoc IWS for its network-based, enterprisewide notification and communication system, which would help provide a secure environment for the care of presidents, dignitaries and wounded soldiers and their families.
AtHoc's offerings are available as software-as-a-service, on-premise and hybrid configurations, based on customer operational needs and security requirements, the company said.