London hospitals rollout smartphone app for emergency internal response

21 November 2012

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT) in London has rolled-out a Responder Smartphone App for BlackBerry phones, as part of a major upgrade of its emergency response facilities.

Utilising PageOne’s Responder App for BlackBerry handsets, Directors and Managers are assigned to SmartGroups based on the emergencies to which they are qualified to respond. Once a message is initiated, the administrative staff at BHRUT can see at a glance whether the message has been delivered, read, how the message recipient has responded and their location. BHRUT operates across two main sites at Queen’s and King George Hospitals.

“Implementing PageOne’s Responder App has really simplified our day-to-day administration,” says David Bays, BHRUT’s Emergency Planning Officer. “A rapid and reliable communications capability plays a vital role in the smooth running of an NHS Trust and with the greater intelligence provided by the Responder App, our support staff can make rapid, informed decisions on the mobilisation and coordination of staff and resources.”

Fully integrated into PageOne’s cloud-based messaging solution, or existing command and control systems, the Responder Smartphone App for BlackBerry as well as iPhone and Android devices, ensures important messages and alerts reach the intended smartphone user quickly and securely. With pop-up alerts, a separate inbox and two-way quick reply options, it is ideal for delivering those real-time operational and emergency alerts that need to be noticed.

“An extremely useful aspect of the Responder is that when you are managing an incident, you can send out a message and plot the location of different staff — this gives us a clear picture of our available resources and enables us to act accordingly,” adds Bays. “We can contact each member of our SmartGroups through any combination of SMS, email and the Responder application. If there is an emergency, all three things will be activated at the same time, letting our staff know there is a serious problem.”