Search results for: emergency medical services information system (EMSIS)
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 30146

Search results for: emergency medical services information system (EMSIS)

29636 Framework for Government ICT Projects

Authors: Manal Rayes

Abstract:

In its efforts to utilize the information and communication technology to enhance the quality of public service delivery, national and local governments around the world are competing to introduce more ICT applications as tools to automate processes related to law enforcement or policy execution, increase citizen orientation, trust, and satisfaction, and create one-stop-shops for public services. In its implementation, e-Government ICTs need to maintain transparency, participation, and collaboration. Due to this diverse of mixed goals and requirements, e-Government systems need to be designed based on special design considerations in order to eliminate the risks of failure to compliance to government regulations, citizen dissatisfaction, or market repulsion. In this article we suggest a framework with guidelines for designing government information systems that takes into consideration the special requirements of the public sector. Then we introduce two case studies and show how applying those guidelines would result in a more solid system design.

Keywords: e-government, framework, guidelines, system design

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29635 An Intelligent Transportation System for Safety and Integrated Management of Railway Crossings

Authors: M. Magrini, D. Moroni, G. Palazzese, G. Pieri, D. Azzarelli, A. Spada, L. Fanucci, O. Salvetti

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Railway crossings are complex entities whose optimal management cannot be addressed unless with the help of an intelligent transportation system integrating information both on train and vehicular flows. In this paper, we propose an integrated system named SIMPLE (Railway Safety and Infrastructure for Mobility applied at level crossings) that, while providing unparalleled safety in railway level crossings, collects data on rail and road traffic and provides value-added services to citizens and commuters. Such services include for example alerts, via variable message signs to drivers and suggestions for alternative routes, towards a more sustainable, eco-friendly and efficient urban mobility. To achieve these goals, SIMPLE is organized as a System of Systems (SoS), with a modular architecture whose components range from specially-designed radar sensors for obstacle detection to smart ETSI M2M-compliant camera networks for urban traffic monitoring. Computational unit for performing forecast according to adaptive models of train and vehicular traffic are also included. The proposed system has been tested and validated during an extensive trial held in the mid-sized Italian town of Montecatini, a paradigmatic case where the rail network is inextricably linked with the fabric of the city. Results of the tests are reported and discussed.

Keywords: Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), railway, railroad crossing, smart camera networks, radar obstacle detection, real-time traffic optimization, IoT, ETSI M2M, transport safety

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29634 Recognition of Arrest Patients and Application of Basic Life Support by Bystanders in the Field

Authors: Behcet Al, Mehmet Murat Oktay, Suat Zengin, Mustafa Sabak, Cuma Yildirim

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Objective: Th Recognition of arrest patients and application of basic life support (BLS) by bystanders in the field and the activation of emergency serves were evaluated in present study. Methodology: The present study was carried out by Emergency Department of Medicine Faculty of Gaziantep University at 33 of Emergency Health center in Gaziantep between December 2012- April 2014 prospectively. Of 539 arrested patients, 171 patients were included in study. Results: 118 (69%) male, and 53 31(%) female with a totlay of 171 patients were included in this study. Of patients, 32.2% had syncope and 24% had shorth breathing just befor being arrested. The majority of arrest cases had occured at home (61.4%) and rural area (11.7%) respectively. Of asking help, %48.5 were constructed by family members. Of announcement, only 15.2% occured within first minute of arrest. The BLS ratio that was applied by bystanders was 22.2%. Of bystanders, 47.4% had a course experience of BLS. The emergency serve had reached to the field with a mean of 8.43 min. Of cases, 55% (n=94) were evaluated as exitus firstly bu emergency staff. The most noticed rythim was asystol (73.1%). BLS and advanced life support (ALS) were applied to 98.8% and 60% respectively at the field. 10.5% (n=18) of cases were defibrilated, and 45 (26.3%) were intubated endotrecealy. The majority (48.5%) of staff who applied BLS and ALS at the fied were emergency medicine technicians. CPR was performed to 86.5% (n=148) cases in ambulance while they were transported. The mean arrival time to mergency department was 9.13 min. When the patients arrived to ED 15.2% needed defirlitation. 91.2% (n =156) of patients resulted in exitus in ED. 15 (8.8%) patients were discharged (9 with recovery, six patients with damage). Conclusion: The ratio of inntervention for arrest patients by bystanders is still low. To optain a high percentage of survival, BLS training should be widened among the puplic especiallyamong the caregivers.

Keywords: arrest patients, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, bystanders, chest compressions, prehospital

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29633 Testing of Canadian Integrated Healthcare and Social Services Initiatives with an Evidence-Based Case Definition for Healthcare and Social Services Integrations

Authors: S. Cheng, C. Catallo

Abstract:

Introduction: Canada's healthcare and social services systems are failing high risk, vulnerable older adults. Care for vulnerable older Canadians (65 and older) is not optimal in Canada. It does not address the care needs of vulnerable, high risk adults using a holistic approach. Given the growing aging population, and the care needs for seniors with complex conditions is one of the highest in Canada's health care system, there is a sense of urgency to optimize care. Integration of health and social services is an emerging trend in Canada when compared to European countries. There is no common and universal understanding of healthcare and social services integration within the country. Consequently, a clear understanding and definition of integrated health and social services are absent in Canada. Objectives: A study was undertaken to develop a case definition for integrated health and social care initiatives that serve older adults, which was then tested against three Canadian integrated initiatives. Methodology: A limited literature review was undertaken to identify common characteristics of integrated health and social care initiatives that serve older adults, and comprised both scientific and grey literature, in order to develop a case definition. Three Canadian integrated initiatives that are located in the province of Ontario, were identified using an online search and a screening process. They were surveyed to determine if the literature-based integration definition applied to them. Results: The literature showed that there were 24 common healthcare and social services integration characteristics that could be categorized into ten themes: 1) patient-care approach; 2) program goals; 3) measurement; 4) service and care quality; 5) accountability and responsibility; 6) information sharing; 7) Decision-making and problem-solving; 8) culture; 9) leadership; and 10) staff and professional interaction. The three initiatives showed agreement on all the integration characteristics except for those characteristics associated with healthcare and social care professional interaction, collaborative leadership and shared culture. This disagreement may be due to several reasons, including the existing governance divide between the healthcare and social services sectors within the province of Ontario that has created a ripple effect in how professions in the two different sectors interact. In addition, the three initiatives may be at maturing levels of integration, which may explain disagreement on the characteristics associated with leadership and culture. Conclusions: The development of a case definition for healthcare and social services integration that incorporates common integration characteristics can act as a useful instrument in identifying integrated healthcare and social services, particularly given the emerging and evolutionary state of this phenomenon within Canada.

Keywords: Canada, case definition, healthcare and social services integration, integration, seniors health, services delivery

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29632 Psychiatric Risk Assessment in the Emergency Department: The Impact of NEAT on the Management of Mental Health Patients

Authors: Euan Donley

Abstract:

Emergency Departments (EDs) are heavily burdened as presentation rates continue to rise. To improve patient flow National Emergency Access Targets (NEAT) were introduced. NEAT implements timelines for ED presentations, such as discharging patients within four hours of arrival. Mental health patients use EDs more than the general population and are generally more complex in their presentations. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of NEAT on psychiatric risk assessment of mental health patients in the ED. Seventy-eight mental health clinicians from 7 Victoria, Australia, hospital EDs participated in a mixed method analysis via anonymous online survey. NEAT was considered helpful as mental health patients were seen quicker, were less likely to abscond, could improve teamwork amongst ED staff, and in some cases administrative processes were better streamlined. However, clinicians felt that NEAT was also responsible for less time with patients and relatives’, resulted in rushed assessments, placed undue pressure on mental health clinicians, was not conducive to training, and the emphasis on time was the wrong focus for patient treatment. The profile of a patient typically likely to be treated within NEAT timelines showed a perfect storm of luck and compliance. If a patient was sober, medically stable, referred early, did not require much collateral information and did not have distressed relatives, NEAT was more likely to be met. Organisationally participants reported no organisational change or training to meet NEAT. Poor mental health staffing, multiple ED presentations and a shortage of mental health beds also hamper meeting NEAT. Findings suggest participants were supportive of NEAT in principle, but a demanding workload and organisational barriers meant NEAT had an overall negative effect on psychiatric risk assessment of mental health patients in ED.

Keywords: assessment, emergency, risk, psychiatric

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29631 Audit on Compliance with Ottawa Ankle Rules in Ankle Radiograph Requests

Authors: Daud Muhammad

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Introduction: Ankle radiographs are frequently requested in Emergency Departments (ED) for patients presenting with traumatic ankle pain. The Ottawa Ankle Rules (OAR) serve as a clinical guideline to determine the necessity of these radiographs, aiming to reduce unnecessary imaging. This audit was conducted to evaluate the adequacy of clinical information provided in radiograph requests in relation to the OAR. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on 50 consecutive ankle radiograph requests under ED clinicians' names for patients aged above 5 years, specifically excluding follow-up radiographs for known fractures. The study assessed whether the provided clinical information met the criteria outlined by the OAR. Results: The audit revealed that none of the 50 radiograph requests contained sufficient information to satisfy the Ottawa Ankle Rules. Furthermore, 10 out of the 50 radiographs (20%) identified fractures. Discussion: The findings indicate a significant lack of adherence to the OAR, suggesting potential overuse of radiography and unnecessary patient exposure to radiation. This non-compliance may also contribute to increased healthcare costs and resource utilization, as well as possible delays in diagnosis and treatment. Recommendations: To address these issues, the following recommendations are proposed: (1) Education and Training: Enhance awareness and training among ED clinicians regarding the OAR. (2) Standardised Request Forms: Implement changes to imaging request forms to mandate relevant information according to the OAR. (3) Scan Vetting: Promote awareness among radiographers to discuss the appropriateness of scan requests with clinicians. (4) Regular re-audits should be conducted to monitor improvements in compliance.

Keywords: Ottawa ankle rules, ankle radiographs, emergency department, traumatic pain

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29630 Application of Cloud Based Healthcare Information System through a Smart Card in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Authors: Wasmi Woishi

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Smart card technology is a secure and safe technology that is expanding its capabilities day by day in terms of holding important information without alteration. It is readily available, and its ease of portability makes it more efficient in terms of its usage. The smart card is in use by many industries such as financial, insurance, governmental industries, personal identification, to name a few. Smart card technology is popular for its wide familiarity, adaptability, accessibility, benefits, and portability. This research aims to find out the perception toward the application of a cloud-based healthcare system through a smart card in KSA. The research has compiled the countries using a smart card or smart healthcare card and indicated the potential benefits of implementing smart healthcare cards. 120 participants from Riyadh city were surveyed by the means of a closed-ended questionnaire. Data were analyzed through SPSS. This research extends the research body in the healthcare system. Empirical evidence regarding smart healthcare cards is scarce and hence undertaken in this study. The study provides a useful insight into collecting, storing, analyzing, manipulating, and accessibility of medical information regarding smart healthcare cards. Research findings can help achieve KSA's Vision 2030 goals in terms of the digitalization of healthcare systems in improving its efficiency and effectiveness in storing and accessing healthcare data.

Keywords: smart card technology, healthcare using smart cards, smart healthcare cards, KSA healthcare information system, cloud-based healthcare cards

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29629 Expert System: Debugging Using MD5 Process Firewall

Authors: C. U. Om Kumar, S. Kishore, A. Geetha

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An Operating system (OS) is software that manages computer hardware and software resources by providing services to computer programs. One of the important user expectations of the operating system is to provide the practice of defending information from unauthorized access, disclosure, modification, inspection, recording or destruction. Operating system is always vulnerable to the attacks of malwares such as computer virus, worm, Trojan horse, backdoors, ransomware, spyware, adware, scareware and more. And so the anti-virus software were created for ensuring security against the prominent computer viruses by applying a dictionary based approach. The anti-virus programs are not always guaranteed to provide security against the new viruses proliferating every day. To clarify this issue and to secure the computer system, our proposed expert system concentrates on authorizing the processes as wanted and unwanted by the administrator for execution. The Expert system maintains a database which consists of hash code of the processes which are to be allowed. These hash codes are generated using MD5 message-digest algorithm which is a widely used cryptographic hash function. The administrator approves the wanted processes that are to be executed in the client in a Local Area Network by implementing Client-Server architecture and only the processes that match with the processes in the database table will be executed by which many malicious processes are restricted from infecting the operating system. The add-on advantage of this proposed Expert system is that it limits CPU usage and minimizes resource utilization. Thus data and information security is ensured by our system along with increased performance of the operating system.

Keywords: virus, worm, Trojan horse, back doors, Ransomware, Spyware, Adware, Scareware, sticky software, process table, MD5, CPU usage and resource utilization

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29628 Routing Medical Images with Tabu Search and Simulated Annealing: A Study on Quality of Service

Authors: Mejía M. Paula, Ramírez L. Leonardo, Puerta A. Gabriel

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In telemedicine, the image repository service is important to increase the accuracy of diagnostic support of medical personnel. This study makes comparison between two routing algorithms regarding the quality of service (QoS), to be able to analyze the optimal performance at the time of loading and/or downloading of medical images. This study focused on comparing the performance of Tabu Search with other heuristic and metaheuristic algorithms that improve QoS in telemedicine services in Colombia. For this, Tabu Search and Simulated Annealing heuristic algorithms are chosen for their high usability in this type of applications; the QoS is measured taking into account the following metrics: Delay, Throughput, Jitter and Latency. In addition, routing tests were carried out on ten images in digital image and communication in medicine (DICOM) format of 40 MB. These tests were carried out for ten minutes with different traffic conditions, reaching a total of 25 tests, from a server of Universidad Militar Nueva Granada (UMNG) in Bogotá-Colombia to a remote user in Universidad de Santiago de Chile (USACH) - Chile. The results show that Tabu search presents a better QoS performance compared to Simulated Annealing, managing to optimize the routing of medical images, a basic requirement to offer diagnostic images services in telemedicine.

Keywords: medical image, QoS, simulated annealing, Tabu search, telemedicine

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29627 Collaborative Early Warning System: An Integrated Framework for Mitigating Impacts of Natural Hazards in the UAE

Authors: Abdulla Al Hmoudi

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The impacts and costs of natural disasters on people, properties and the environment is often severe when they occur on a large scale or when not prepared for. Factors such as impacts of climate change, urban growth, poor planning to mention a few, have continued to significantly increase the frequencies and aggravate the impacts of natural hazards across the world; the United Arab Emirates (UAE) inclusive. The lack of deployment of an early warning system, low risk and hazard knowledge and impact of natural hazard experienced in some communities in the UAE have emphasised the need for more effective early warning systems. This paper focuses on the collaborative approach taken to instituting and implementing an early warning system. Using mixed methods 888 people completed the questionnaire and eight people were interviewed in Abu Dhabi. The results indicate that the collaborative approach to early warning system is UAE is needed, but lacks essential principles of the early warning system and currently underutilised. It is recommended that the collaborative early warning system is applied at every stage of the early warning system with the specific responsibility of each stakeholder and actor.

Keywords: community, early warning system, emergency management, UAE

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29626 Beyond Inclusion: The Need for Health Equity for Women with Disabilities

Authors: Jaishree Ellis

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The United States Centers for Disease Control tells us that many women with disabilities will not receive regular health screenings, including Pap Smears and mammograms. This article was comprised and written to recognize the barriers to care, gaps in existing healthcare implementation, and viable methodologies for the provision of comprehensive and robust gynecologic care for women with disabilities. According to the World Health Organization, 15% of the world's population, or approximately 1 billion people, have disabilities, most of whom are identified as women. Women with disabilities are described as being multi-disabled, as in some places, they suffer exclusion because of their disabilities as well as their gender. The paucity of information regarding how to create a healthcare system that is inclusive of every woman, regardless of her type of disability (physical, mental, intellectual or medical), has made it challenging to establish an environment that makes it possible for individuals to access care in an equitable, respectful and comprehensive way. A review of the current literature, institutional websites within the United States and American resource guides was implemented to determine where comprehensive models of care for women with disabilities exist, as well as the modalities that are being employed to meet their healthcare needs. The many barriers to care that women with disabilities face were also extracted from various sources within the literature to provide an exhaustive list that can be tackled, one by one. Of the 637 Hospital Systems in the United States, only 7 provide website documentation of health care services that address the unique needs of women with disabilities. The presumption is that if institutions have not marketed such interventions to the community, then it is likely that they do not have a robust suite of services with which to make gynecologic care available to patients with disabilities. Through this review, 7 main barriers to comprehensive gynecologic care were identified, with more than 20 sub-categories existing within those. As with many other areas of community life, inclusion remains lacking in the delivery of healthcare for women with disabilities. There are at least 7 barriers that must be overcome in order to provide equity in the medical office, the exam room, the hospital and the operating room. While few institutions have prioritized this, those few have provided blueprints that can easily be adopted by others. However, as the general population lives longer and ages, the incidence of disabilities increases, as do the healthcare disparities surrounding them. Further compounded by this is a lack of formal education for medical providers in the United States.

Keywords: health equity, inclusion, healthcare disparities, education

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29625 Disaster Resilience Analysis of Atlanta Interstate Highway System within the Perimeter

Authors: Mengmeng Liu, J. David Frost

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Interstate highway system within the Atlanta Perimeter plays an important role in residents’ daily life. The serious influence of Atlanta I-85 Collapses implies that transportation system in the region lacks a cohesive and comprehensive transportation plan. Therefore, disaster resilience analysis of the transportation system is necessary. Resilience is the system’s capability to persist or to maintain transportation services when exposed to changes or shocks. This paper analyzed the resilience of the whole transportation system within the Perimeter and see how removing interstates within the Perimeter will affect the resilience of the transportation system. The data used in the paper are Atlanta transportation networks and LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics data. First, we calculate the traffic flow on each road section based on LEHD data assuming each trip travel along the shortest travel time paths. Second, we calculate the measure of resilience, which is flow-based connectivity and centrality of the transportation network, and see how they will change if we remove each section of interstates from the current transportation system. Finally, we get the resilience function curve of the interstates and identify the most resilient interstates section. The resilience analysis results show that the framework of calculation resilience is effective and can provide some useful information for the transportation planning and sustainability analysis of the transportation infrastructures.

Keywords: connectivity, interstate highway system, network analysis, resilience analysis

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29624 Digital Learning Repositories for Vocational Teaching and Knowledge Sharing

Authors: Prachyanun Nilsook, Panita Wannapiroon

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The purpose of this research is to study a Digital Learning Repository System (DLRS) on vocational teachers and teaching in Thailand. The innobpcd.net is a DLRS being utilized by the Office of Vocational Education Commission and operationalized by the Bureau of Personnel Competency Development for vocational education teachers. The aim of the system is to support and enhance the process of vocational teaching and to improve staff development by providing teachers with a variety of network connections and information. The system provides centralized hosting and access to content, and the ability to share digital objects or files, to set permissions and controls for access to content that can be used vocational education teachers for their teaching and for their own development. The elements of DLRS include; Digital learning system, Media Library, Knowledge-based system and Mobile Application. The system aims to link vocational teachers to the most effective emerging technologies available for learning, so they are better resourced to support their vocational students. The initial results from this evaluation indicate that there is a range of services provided by the system being used by vocational teachers and this paper indicates which facilities have the greatest usage and impact on vocational teaching in Thailand.

Keywords: digital learning repositories, vocational education, knowledge sharing, learning objects

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29623 Development of Medical Intelligent Process Model Using Ontology Based Technique

Authors: Emmanuel Chibuogu Asogwa, Tochukwu Sunday Belonwu

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An urgent demand for creative solutions has been created by the rapid expansion of medical knowledge, the complexity of patient care, and the requirement for more precise decision-making. As a solution to this problem, the creation of a Medical Intelligent Process Model (MIPM) utilizing ontology-based appears as a promising way to overcome this obstacle and unleash the full potential of healthcare systems. The development of a Medical Intelligent Process Model (MIPM) using ontology-based techniques is motivated by a lack of quick access to relevant medical information and advanced tools for treatment planning and clinical decision-making, which ontology-based techniques can provide. The aim of this work is to develop a structured and knowledge-driven framework that leverages ontology, a formal representation of domain knowledge, to enhance various aspects of healthcare. Object-Oriented Analysis and Design Methodology (OOADM) were adopted in the design of the system as we desired to build a usable and evolvable application. For effective implementation of this work, we used the following materials/methods/tools: the medical dataset for the test of our model in this work was obtained from Kaggle. The ontology-based technique was used with Confusion Matrix, MySQL, Python, Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP), Cascaded Style Sheet (CSS), JavaScript, Dreamweaver, and Fireworks. According to test results on the new system using Confusion Matrix, both the accuracy and overall effectiveness of the medical intelligent process significantly improved by 20% compared to the previous system. Therefore, using the model is recommended for healthcare professionals.

Keywords: ontology-based, model, database, OOADM, healthcare

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29622 Global Healthcare Village Based on Mobile Cloud Computing

Authors: Laleh Boroumand, Muhammad Shiraz, Abdullah Gani, Rashid Hafeez Khokhar

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Cloud computing being the use of hardware and software that are delivered as a service over a network has its application in the area of health care. Due to the emergency cases reported in most of the medical centers, prompt for an efficient scheme to make health data available with less response time. To this end, we propose a mobile global healthcare village (MGHV) model that combines the components of three deployment model which include country, continent and global health cloud to help in solving the problem mentioned above. In the creation of continent model, two (2) data centers are created of which one is local and the other is global. The local replay the request of residence within the continent, whereas the global replay the requirements of others. With the methods adopted, there is an assurance of the availability of relevant medical data to patients, specialists, and emergency staffs regardless of locations and time. From our intensive experiment using the simulation approach, it was observed that, broker policy scheme with respect to optimized response time, yields a very good performance in terms of reduction in response time. Though, our results are comparable to others when there is an increase in the number of virtual machines (80-640 virtual machines). The proportionality in increase of response time is within 9%. The results gotten from our simulation experiments shows that utilizing MGHV leads to the reduction of health care expenditures and helps in solving the problems of unqualified medical staffs faced by both developed and developing countries.

Keywords: cloud computing (MCC), e-healthcare, availability, response time, service broker policy

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29621 Battling against the Great Disruption to Surgical Care in a Pandemic: Experience of Eleven South and Southeast Asian Countries

Authors: Naomi Huang Wenya, Xin Xiaohui, Vijaya Rao, Wong Ting Hway, Chow Kah Hoe Pierce, Tan Hiang Khoon

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Background: The majority of the cancelled elective surgeries caused by the COVID-19 pandemic globally were estimated to occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where surgical services had long been in short supply even before the pandemic. Therefore, minimising disruption to existing surgical care in LMICs is of crucial importance during a pandemic. This study aimed to explore contributory factors to the continuity of surgical care in LMICs, in the face of a pandemic. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted over zoom, with surgical leaders of 25 tertiary hospitals from 11 LMICs in South and Southeast Asia, from September to October 2020. Key themes were subsequently identified from the interview transcripts, using Braun and Clarke's method of thematic analysis. Results: The COVID-19 pandemic affected all surgical services of participating institutions but to varying degrees. Overall, elective surgeries suffered the gravest disruption, followed by outpatient surgical care, and finally, emergency surgeries. Keeping healthcare workers safe and striving for continuity of essential surgical care emerged as notable response strategies observed across all participating institutions. Conclusion: This study suggested that four factors are important for the resilience of surgical care against COVID-19: adequate COVID-19 testing capacity and effective institutional infection control measures, designated COVID-19 treatment facilities, a whole-system approach to balancing pandemic response and meeting essential surgical needs, and active community engagement. These findings can inform healthcare institutions in other countries, especially LMICs, in their effort to tread a fine line between preserving healthcare capacity for pandemic response and protecting surgical services against pandemic disruption.

Keywords: COVID-19, pandemic, LMICs, continuity of surgical service

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29620 System for Monitoring Marine Turtles Using Unstructured Supplementary Service Data

Authors: Luís Pina

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The conservation of marine biodiversity keeps ecosystems in balance and ensures the sustainable use of resources. In this context, technological resources have been used for monitoring marine species to allow biologists to obtain data in real-time. There are different mobile applications developed for data collection for monitoring purposes, but these systems are designed to be utilized only on third-generation (3G) phones or smartphones with Internet access and in rural parts of the developing countries, Internet services and smartphones are scarce. Thus, the objective of this work is to develop a system to monitor marine turtles using Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), which users can access through basic mobile phones. The system aims to improve the data collection mechanism and enhance the effectiveness of current systems in monitoring sea turtles using any type of mobile device without Internet access. The system will be able to report information related to the biological activities of marine turtles. Also, it will be used as a platform to assist marine conservation entities to receive reports of illegal sales of sea turtles. The system can also be utilized as an educational tool for communities, providing knowledge and allowing the inclusion of communities in the process of monitoring marine turtles. Therefore, this work may contribute with information to decision-making and implementation of contingency plans for marine conservation programs.

Keywords: GSM, marine biology, marine turtles, unstructured supplementary service data (USSD)

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29619 A Framework for Information Quality in Accounting Information Systems Adoption

Authors: Wongsim Manirath

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In order to implement AIS adoption successfully, it is important to consider the quality of information management and understand Information Quality (IQ) factors influencing AIS adoption. This research aims to explore ways of managing AIS adoption to investigate the adoption of accounting information systems within organisations. The study has led to the development of a framework for understanding the AIS adoption process in an organisation. This research used qualitative, interpretive evidence. This framework was developed from case studies and by collecting qualitative data (interviews). This research has conducted 10 case studies to study how IQ is managed through the accounting information system adoption process. A special focus is placed on determining how organisation size influences the information quality practices. The finding is especially useful to SMEs as many SMEs have the desire to grow bigger. By better dealing with IQ issues, there could be a successful future.

Keywords: data quality, information quality, accounting information system, information management

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29618 Challenges and Opportunities for Facilitating Telemedicine Services Through Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Ethiopia

Authors: Wegene Demeke

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Background: The demand for healthcare services is growing in developing and developed countries. Information and communication technology is used to facilitate healthcare services. In the case of developing countries, implementing telemedicine is aimed at providing healthcare for people living in remote areas where health service is not accessible. The implementations of telemedicine in developing countries are unsuccessful. For example, the recent study indicates that 90% of telemedicine projects are abandoned or failed in developing countries. Several researchers reported the technological challenges as the main factor for the non-adoption of telemedicine. However, this research reports the health professionals’ perspectives arising from technical, social and organizational factors that are considered as key elements for the setting and running of telemedicine in Ethiopia. The importance and significance of telemedicine for healthcare is growing. For example, the use of telemedicine in the current pandemic situation becomes an essential strategic element in providing healthcare services in developed countries. Method: Qualitative and quantitative exploratory research methods used to collect data to find factors affecting the adoption of Information and communication technologies for telemedicine use. The survey was distributed using emails and Google forms. The email addresses were collected from personal contact and publicly available websites in Ethiopia. The thematic analysis used to build the barriers and facilitators factors for establishing telemedicine services. A survey questionnaire with open-and-close questions was used to collect data from 175 health professionals. Outcome: The result of this research will contribute to building the key barriers and facilitators factors of telemedicine from the health professional perspectives in developing countries. The thematic analysis provides barriers and facilitators factors arising from technical, organizational, and social sources.

Keywords: telemedicine, ICT, developing country, Ethiopia, health service

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29617 Effective Budget Utilization for the Production of Better Health Professionals

Authors: Tesfahiwot Abay Weldearegay

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Ethiopian Federal ministry of health, in collaboration with different partners, provides financial support from sustainable development grants and global fund budget sources to Regional health science colleges through the regional health bureau to improve the quality of training and avail professionals based on the regional health bureau demand from the year of 2012 to 2019EC. It was mainly focused on health extension workers (HEW) Level III&IV, Health Information technicians (HIT), Emergency Medical technicians (EMT), laboratory technicians, Pharmacy technicians, Anesthesia Level V, Radiography, midwifery, Environmental health and biomedical equipment technician. Laboratory technician, Radiography and Pharmacy technician, was retooling program. The study aims at assessing the Utilization and outcome of budgets transferred through regional health bureau to regional health science colleges. The study used both quantitative and qualitative approaches to develop sufficient data to explain the utilization of the budget, and outcomes obtained from the transferred budget and to identify the gaps. The data for the study were obtained through structured questionnaires and interviews was conducted to increase the reliability of the data. Nationally, students enrolled in different disciplines at RHSC through budget support for RHB to improve the quality of training were 87 840 students and the total Budget transferred, according to MOU was 895,752,038 Ethiopian birr. Among the students enrolled nationally in different disciplines at RHSC through budget support only 72% of students have graduated from different disciplines. In Hareri and Addis Ababa, all enrolled students were graduated (100%). At the same time, Oromia 69%, Amara 77%, SNNP 58% students graduated, respectively. The demand of the regional health bureau and the enrollment capacity of health science colleges increased from year to year. The financial support added great value to the HSCs to cop with problems related to student fees, skill lab materials and renovation.

Keywords: emergency medical technician, radiography, Biomedical, health extension

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29616 Perceived Ease-of-Use and Intention to Use E-Government Services in Ghana: The Moderating Role of Perceived Usefulness

Authors: Isaac Kofi Mensah

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Public sector organizations, ministries, departments and local government agencies are adopting e-government as a means to provide efficient and quality service delivery to citizens. The purpose of this research paper is to examine the extent to which perceived usefulness (PU) of e-government services moderates between perceived ease-of-use (PEOU) of e-government services and intention to use (IU) e-government services in Ghana. A structured research questionnaire instrument was developed and administered to 700 potential respondents in Ghana, of which 693 responded, representing 99% of the questionnaires distributed. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was used as the theoretical framework for the study. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used to capture and analyze the data. The results indicate that even though predictors such as PU and PEOU are main determiners of citizens’ intention to adopt and use e-government services in Ghana, it failed to show that PEOU and IU e-government services in Ghana is significantly moderated by the PU of e-government services. The implication of this finding on theory and practice is further discussed.

Keywords: e-government services, intention to use, moderating role, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, Ghana, technology acceptance model

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29615 Influencing Factors to Mandatory versus Non-Mandatory E-Government Services Adoption in India: An Empirical Study

Authors: Rajiv Kumar, Amit Sachan, Arindam Mukherjee

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Government agencies around the world, including India, are incorporating digital technologies and processes into their day-to-day operations to become more efficient. Despite low internet penetration (around 34.8% of total population) in India, Government of India has made some public services mandatory to access online (e.g. passport, tax filing).This is insisting citizens to access mandatory public services online. However, due to digital divide, all citizens do not have equal access to internet. In light of this, it is an interesting topic to explore how citizens are able to access mandatory online public services. It is important to understand how citizens are adopting these mandatory e-government services and how the adoption behavior of these mandatory e-government services is different or similar to adoption behavior of non-mandatory e-government services. The purpose of this research is to investigate the factors that influence adoption of mandatory and non-mandatory e-government services in India. A quantitative technique is employed in this study. A conceptual model has been proposed by integrating the influencing factors to adopt e-government services from previous studies. The proposed conceptual model highlights a comprehensive set of potential factors influencing the adoption of e-government services. The proposed model has been validated by keeping in view the local context of Indian society. Online and paper based survey was administered, collected data was analyzed and results have been discussed. A total of 463 valid responses were received and further the responses were analyzed. The research reveals that the influencing factors to adopt e-government services are not same for both mandatory and non-mandatory e-government services. There are some factors that influence adoption of both mandatory and non-mandatory e-government services but there are some which are relevant for either of mandatory and non-mandatory e-government services. The research findings may help government or concerned agencies in successfully implementing e-government services.

Keywords: adoption, e-government, India, mandatory, non-mandatory

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29614 Assessing Suitability of Earthbag Technology for Temporary Housing: Sustainability Challenge

Authors: S. M. Amin Hosseini, Ana Blanco, Albert De La Fuente, Sergio Cavalaro

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In emergency situations, it is fundamental to provide with a safe shelter to the population affected. However, the lack of resources and short time often represent a barrier difficult to overcome. A sustainable, rapid and low-cost construction technique is earthbag construction. This technique has spread as an alternative to the construction of emergency shelter, social housing, and even ecovillages. The earthbag construction consists of introducing soil in degradable bags that are stacked to form adobe structures. The present study aims to assess characteristics of the earthbag construction technique based on sustainability requirements and features of other methods used for temporary housing. In this case, after defining the sustainability criteria and emergency situation necessities, this study compares earthbag construction with other types of prefabricated temporary housing. Finally, the most suitable conditions for applying this technique based on the particular local properties and second life scenarios of superadobe temporary housing. The results of the study contribute to promote the earthbag and superadobe techniques as sustainable alternatives for temporary housing. However, the sustainability index of this technology highly depends on affected local conditions and characteristics. Consequently, in order to achieve a high sustainability index, emergency managers need to decide about this technology based on the highlighted results of this study, attention to the importance of specific local conditions and next functions of temporary housing.

Keywords: temporary housing, temporary shelter, earthbag, superadobe, sustainability, emergency

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29613 Privacy Label: An Alternative Approach to Present Privacy Policies from Online Services to the User

Authors: Diego Roberto Goncalves De Pontes, Sergio Donizetti Zorzo

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Studies show that most users do not read privacy policies from the online services they use. Some authors claim that one of the main causes of this is that policies are long and usually hard to understand, which make users lose interest in reading them. In this scenario, users may agree with terms without knowing what kind of data is being collected and why. Given that, we aimed to develop a model that would present the privacy policies contents in an easy and graphical way for the user to understand. We call it the Privacy Label. Using information recovery techniques, we propose an architecture that is able to extract information about what kind of data is being collected and to what end in the policies and show it to the user in an automated way. To assess our model, we calculated the precision, recall and f-measure metrics on the information extracted by our technique. The results for each metric were 68.53%, 85.61% e 76,13%, respectively, making it possible for the final user to understand which data was being collected without reading the whole policy. Also, our proposal can facilitate the notice-and-choice by presenting privacy policy information in an alternative way for online users.

Keywords: privacy, policies, user behavior, computer human interaction

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29612 An Exploration of the Emergency Staff’s Perceptions and Experiences of Teamwork and the Skills Required in the Emergency Department in Saudi Arabia

Authors: Sami Alanazi

Abstract:

Teamwork practices have been recognized as a significant strategy to improve patient safety, quality of care, and staff and patient satisfaction in healthcare settings, particularly within the emergency department (ED). The EDs depend heavily on teams of interdisciplinary healthcare staff to carry out their operational goals and core business of providing care to the serious illness and injured. The ED is also recognized as a high-risk area in relation to service demand and the potential for human error. Few studies have considered the perceptions and experiences of the ED staff (physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, and administration staff) about the practice of teamwork, especially in Saudi Arabia (SA), and no studies have been conducted to explore the practices of teamwork in the EDs. Aim: To explore the practices of teamwork from the perspectives and experiences of staff (physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, and administration staff) when interacting with each other in the admission areas in the ED of a public hospital in the Northern Border region of SA. Method: A qualitative case study design was utilized, drawing on two methods for the data collection, comprising of semi-structured interviews (n=22) with physicians (6), nurses (10), allied health professionals (3), and administrative members (3) working in the ED of a hospital in the Northern Border region of SA. The second method is non-participant direct observation. All data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings: The main themes that emerged from the analysis were as follows: the meaningful of teamwork, reasons of teamwork, the ED environmental factors, the organizational factors, the value of communication, leadership, teamwork skills in the ED, team members' behaviors, multicultural teamwork, and patients and families behaviors theme. Discussion: Working in the ED environment played a major role in affecting work performance as well as team dynamics. However, Communication, time management, fast-paced performance, multitasking, motivation, leadership, and stress management were highlighted by the participants as fundamental skills that have a major impact on team members and patients in the ED. It was found that the behaviors of the team members impacted the team dynamics as well as ED health services. Behaviors such as disputes among team members, conflict, cooperation, uncooperative members, neglect, and emotions of the members. Besides that, the behaviors of the patients and their accompanies had a direct impact on the team and the quality of the services. In addition, the differences in the cultures have separated the team members and created undesirable gaps such the gender segregation, national origin discrimination, and similarity and different in interests. Conclusion: Effective teamwork, in the context of the emergency department, was recognized as an essential element to obtain the quality of care as well as improve staff satisfaction.

Keywords: teamwork, barrier, facilitator, emergencydepartment

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29611 Resilience with Spontaneous Volunteers in Disasters-Coordination Using an It System

Authors: Leo Latasch, Mario Di Gennaro

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Introduction: The goal of this project was to increase the resilience of the population as well as rescue organizations to make both quality and time-related improvements in handling crises. A helper network was created for this purpose. Methods: Social questions regarding the structure and purpose of helper networks were considered - specifically with regard to helper motivation, the level of commitment and collaboration between populations and agencies. The exchange of information, the coordinated use of volunteers, and the distribution of available resources will be ensured through defined communication and cooperation routines. Helper smartphones will also be used provide a picture of the situation on the ground. Results: The helper network was established and deployed based on the RESIBES information technology system. It consists of a service platform, a web portal and a smartphone app. The service platform is the central element for collaboration between the various rescue organizations, as well as for persons, associations, and companies from the population offering voluntary aid. The platform was used for: Registering helpers and resources and then requesting and assigning it in case of a disaster. These services allow the population's resources to be organized. The service platform also allows for a secure data exchange between services and external systems. Conclusions: The social and technical work priorities have allowed us to cover a full cycle of advance structural work, gaining an overview, damage management, evaluation, and feedback on experiences. This cycle allows experiences gained while handling the crisis to feed back into the cycle and improve preparations and management strategies.

Keywords: coordination, disaster, resilience, volunteers

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29610 Application of Social Media for Promoting Library and Information Services: A Case Study of Library Science Professionals of India

Authors: Payel Saha

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Social media is playing an important role for dissemination of information in society. In 21st century most people have a smart phone and used different social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, Skype etc. in day to day life. It is rapidly growing web-based tool for everyone to share thoughts, ideas and knowledge globally using internet. The study highlights the current use of social media tools for promoting library and information services of Library and Information Professionals of India, which are working in Library. The study was conducted during November, 2017. A structured questionnaire was prepared using google docs and shared using different mailing list, sent to individual email IDs and sharing with other social media tools. Only 90 responses received from the different states of India and analyzed via MS-Excel. The data receive from 17 states and 3 union territories of India; however most of the respondents has come from the states Odisha 23, Himachal Pradesh 14 and Assam 10. The results revealed that out 90 respondents 37 Female and 53 male categories and also majority of respondents 71 have come from academic library followed by special library 15, Public library 3 and corporate library 1 respondent. The study indicates that, out of 90 respondent’s majority of 53 of respondents said that their Library have a social media account while 39 of respondents have not their Library social media account. The study also inform that Facebook, YouTube, Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram are using by the LIS professional of India and Facebook 86 was popular social media tool among the other social media tools. Furthermore, respondent reported that they are using social media tools for sharing photos of events and programs of library 72, followed by tips for using different services 64, posting of new arrivals 56, tutorials of database 35 and send brief updates to patrons 32, announcement of library holidays 22. It was also reported by respondents that they are sharing information about scholarships training programs and marketing of library events etc. The study furthermore identify that lack of time is the major problem while using social media with 53 of respondents followed by low speed of internet 35, too many social media tools to learn 17 and some 3 respondents reported that there is no problem while using social media tools. The results also revealed that, majority of the respondents reported that they are using social media tools in daily basis 71 followed by weekly basis 16. It was followed by monthly 1 respondent and other 2 of the respondents. In summary, this study is expected to be useful in further promoting the social media for dissemination of library and information services to the general public.

Keywords: application of social media, India, promoting library services, library professionals

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29609 The Design of Information Technology System for Traceability of Thailand’s Tubtimjun Roseapple

Authors: Pimploi Tirastittam, Phutthiwat Waiyawuththanapoom, Sawanath Treesathon

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As there are several countries which import agriculture product from Thailand, those countries demand Thailand to establish the traceability system. The traceability system is the tool to reduce the risk in the supply chain in a very effective way as it will help the stakeholder in the supply chain to identify the defect point which will reduce the cost of operation in the supply chain. This research is aimed to design the traceability system for Tubtimjun roseapple for exporting to China, and it is the qualitative research. The data was collected from the expert in the tuntimjun roseapple and fruit exporting industry, and the data was used to design the traceability system. The design of the tubtimjun roseapple traceability system was followed the theory of supply chain which starts from the upstream of the supply chain to the downstream of the supply chain to support the process and condition of the exporting which included the database designing, system architecture, user interface design and information technology of the traceability system.

Keywords: design information, technology system, traceability, tubtimjun roseapple

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29608 Evaluation of Student Satisfaction Level Towards Anadolu University E-Services through E-Government Model and Importance Performance Analysis Method

Authors: Emrah Ayhan, Puspa Saananta Irfani, Ömer Doğukan Şahin

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Public services, which are important for the order and continuity of social life, have begun to transform into electronic services (E-service) with the development of information and communication technologies in recent years. In particular, as a result of the widespread use of the internet and the increase in citizen demands, it has become necessary to provide public services electronically. In addition to facilitating traditional public services, new types of e-services strengthen the interaction, cooperation, accessibility, transparency, citizen participation (e-governance) and accountability between citizens and the state. In this context, the factors in the literature that are considered to influence the citizens’ satisfaction towards e-services will be examined through the example of student satisfaction with the e-services (Anasis, Mergen, E-mail, library, cafeteria and other transactions) offered by Anadolu University (Eskişehir, Türkiye) through university website and mobile application. The data for the analysis will be obtained from the survey research that will be used to measure user satisfaction with university e-services of 1,000 students studying at 9 different faculties and graduate schools of Anadolu University. These data will be analyzed with a unique methodology that uses the E-GovQual model and Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) methods together. The e-GovQual model serves as a framework for evaluating the quality of e-services, allowing a detailed understanding of students' perceptions. On the other hand, the IPA method will be used to determine the performance level of Anadolu University in the provision of e-services and to understand the areas that require improvement and student expectations. Strategic goals and suggestions will be made to decision-makers, students, and researchers in line with the findings obtained in the research. Thus, it is planned to contribute to e-governance and user satisfaction in educational institutions and to reveal practical implications for optimizing online platforms to better serve student needs.

Keywords: e-service, Anadolu university, student satisfaction, e-governance, e-govqual, importance performance analysis

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29607 Comparison of Patient Stay at Withy Bush Same Day Emergency Care and Then Those at the Emergency Department

Authors: Joshua W. Edefo, Shafiul Azam, Murray D. Smith

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Introduction: In April 2022, the Welsh Government introduced the six goals for urgent and emergency care programs. One of these goals was to provide access to clinically safe alternatives, leading to the establishment of the Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) program. The SDEC initiative aims to offer viable options that maintain patient safety while avoiding unnecessary hospital stays. The aim of the study is to determine the duration of patient stay in SDEC and compare it with that of Emergency department (ED) stay to ascertain if one of the objectives of SDEC is achieved. Methods: Patient stays and attendance datasets were constructed from Withybush SDEC and ED patient records. These records were provided by Hywel Dda University Health Board Informatics. Some hypothetical pathways were identified, notably SDEC visits involving a single attendance and ED visits then immediately transferred to SDEC. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise the data, and hypothesis tests for mean differences used the student t-test. Propensity scoring was employed to match a set of ED patient stays to SDEC patient stays which were then used to determine the average treatment effect (ATE) to compare durations of stay in SDEC with ED. Regression methods were used to model the natural logarithm of the duration of SDEC attendance, and the level of statistical significance was set to 0.05. Results: SDEC visits involving a single attendance (170 of 384; 44.3%) is the most frequently observed pathway with patient length of stay at 256 minutes (95%CI 237.4 - 275.1). The next most frequently observed pathway of patient stay was SDEC attendance after presenting to ED (80 of 384; 20.8%) and gave the length of stay of 440 minutes (95%CI 351.6 - 529.2). Time spent in this pathway significantly increased by 184 minutes (95%CI 118.0 - 250.2, support for no difference p<0.001) compared to the most seen pathway. When SDEC data were compared with ED, the estimate for the ATE from SDEC single attendance was -272 minutes (95%CI -334.1 - -210.5; p<0.001), while that of ED then SDEC pathway was -50.6 min (95%CI -182.7-81.5; p=0.453). Conclusion: When patients are admitted to SDEC and successfully discharged, their stays are significantly shorter, approximately 4.5 hours, compared to patients who spend their entire stay in the Emergency Department. That difference vanishes when the patient stay includes a period spent previously in ED before transfer to SDEC.

Keywords: attendance, emergency-department, patient-stay, same-day-emergency-care

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