The federally backed Broadband Opportunity Program recently awarded a $33 million grant to allow the state of Mississippi to build infrastructure to enhance communication and coordination among first responder emergency providers.
“The goal is to increase the care provided to patients, and to develop policies and procedures for the use of technology in rural areas and in situations where patients are being treated at the scene,” said Dr. Damon Darsey, emergency medical physician and medical director for the University of Mississippi’s Medical Center (UMMC).
The project includes the construction of an integrated public safety training complex for MED-COM, the statewide emergency communications center headquartered at UMMC. The complex is staffed 24/7 with paramedics, emergency medical technicians, emergency responders and health care providers that respond to various medical calls and coordinate response.
The complex also will include an educational center to train emergency responders on how to use the technology and emergency medicine used during events.
In addition to training, the grant will fund the research and development of a mobile telemedicine application for emergency responders that has available broadband systems or the Mississippi Wireless Information Network.
“This building will include areas where broadband signals could be replicated or simulated while allowing medical responders to train on new technologies,” Darsey said. “These are innovative ideas to impact mortality in Mississippi.”