Real-Time Hospital Power Status Notification System
Executive Summary
During the 2017 Hurricane Season, HHS engaged in major response operations to three hurricanes: Harvey, Irma, and Maria. A consistent theme across all three hurricane responses was the immediate and ongoing need to determine the power status—electrical grid, generator, or no power at all—at all healthcare facilities in the impacted area. Unfortunately, even the most resilient healthcare facilities struggled to make any kind of contact with response authorities. Healthcare facilities in the US Virgin Islands and on Puerto Rico were wholly incapable of reporting timely, actionable healthcare facility information to local, territorial, or federal public health response organizations. We propose the development and testing of a hybrid system that enables real-time electrical power status monitoring for healthcare facilities. The system uses terrestrial and satellite technology to automatically transmit the data to State Departments of Health or State Departments of Emergency Management, and ultimately to HHS response assets.
Team Members
Jennifer Cockrill (team lead), ASPR
Alice Shumate, CDC
Murad Raheem, ASPR
Milestones
October 2018: Project selected into the HHS Ignite Accelerator
March 2019: Time in Accelerator Began
June 2019: Time in Accelerator Ended
