In Case of Emergency USB Drives

[catskills]

Has anyone heard of any PTs at hospitals or in back of rigs wearing one of these (ICE) in case of emergency USB drives?

Are hospitals equipped and trained to read one of these USB drives?

Do any rigs have the capability/SOP to read these USB drives in the back of the ambulance?

There are many of these on the market if you google them. This one is water and fire resistant. Some come in the shape of a credit card.
http://www.bnet.com/blog/businessti...-usb-flash-drive-that-can-save-your-life/6940

Its interesting that these USB in case of emergency drives could be made significantly smaller and put into very small jewelry if every hospital had one of these USB wires typically used for cameras. As you can see the one male plug is very small and could be plugged into all sorts of small jewelry or watches that contains ICE information. Assuming every hospital has one of these cables.

 

[wolfwyndd]

Other then on the news and on the internetz I've never actually seen one of these. Although if we did come across a patient that had one, I'm sure it would be useful. We do have a laptop in our ambulance that has a couple USB ports and it appears as though it's 'plug and play.'

 

[reaper]

We had them in my last system. We held drives where we gave them out. Ours were the normal keychain type that plug directly into a USB port. No need for a cord. They work very well, if your system sets it up right.

 

[JPINFV]

I would probably be wary of using one if I worked in a system that had the capabilities to read it.

A "significant compromise" of U.S. military networks has been acknowledged by the Pentagon two years after the breach was reported in the press.

"In 2008, the U.S. Department of Defense suffered a significant compromise of its classified military computer networks," Deputy Secretary of Defense William S. Lynn III wrote in an article in the September/October issue of Foreign Affairs.

"It began when an infected flash drive was inserted into a U.S. military laptop at a base in the Middle East," he explained. "The flash drive's malicious computer code, placed there by a foreign intelligence agency, uploaded itself onto a network run by the U.S. Central Command.

"That code spread undetected on both classified and unclassified systems," he continued, "establishing what amounted to a digital beachhead, from which data could be transferred to servers under foreign control."

Emphasis added.

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Pentagon-Yep-We-Got-Hacked-70699.html?wlc=1282920302

 

[LucidResq]

Yeah, I agree with JP. It's something that seems nifty at first, but we need to consider all of the possible ramifications of plugging a stranger's device in to our computers that we rely on and which may have access to sensitive information.

 

[reaper]

When your system provides them and is the only one that can access them to add to them, then that threat is minimal. It costs money and time, but do work very well.

 

[zmedic]

Those things are only as useful as the info on them. In the hospital what I want are previous blood work, actual previous CT scans (no just the report), discharge summaries etc. Most patients don't have them, and I would be concerned about spending a lot of time messing around with these drives if they aren't going to have the info I need.

I think a first step is just getting people to carry a printed out list of their meds. It's a lot cheaper and easier and we can't even get people to do that.

 

[catskills]

I agree that any computer used to read these ICE USB drives should never ever be connected to any network. This probably means you need a separate computer dedicated to reading these In Case of Emergency USB drives. In addition the USB drives should be read only when EMS and hospitals are reading the USB drive. There is no need for the hospital to infect the customers USB drive with a virus that they will take home and infect their computer in the future.

This is why I asked the questions do you have procedures set up to read the in case of emergency USB drives and are people trained on how to read them.

 

[TraprMike]

Virus.exe/run

there is no way i'm going to put someone elses flash drive in one of my computers. personal and especialy a company computer !! what I would like is a drivers lic. card reader. and have the state put more info on it. or another MED card with useful information on it..

swipe the card and you have name, address, insurance , next of kin, all kinds of info,,

 

[JPINFV]

You assume that the state has access to that information. Why the hell would I give the DMV any more information than need be? They don't need to know anything more than my name and basic demographic information (medical history does is not in this category). They don't need to know my health insurance, next of kin, vehicle insurance follows the car, not the individual, or any other information.

 

[TraprMike]

there is no way i'm going to put someone elses flash drive in one of my computers. personal and especialy a company computer !! what I would like is a drivers lic. card reader. and have the state put more info on it. or another MED card with useful information on it.. swipe the card and you have name, address, insurance , next of kin, all kinds of info,,

I was typing and thinking at the same time.. yes, i agree.. the DL has just enouph stuff on it to get my job done,, when I switch hats, I'd love to look for a bright red card with a white cross on it.. but that's just me.. personaly I'd love all of your information on the one card, everything. even your pet's name..

 

[Aidey]

^^^ Actually next of kin probably wouldn't be a bad idea, that way if something happens it would make notification quicker.

I can see the goal of the idea, but I wouldn't do it unless there was a specific computer designated for it. I would never connect a USB drive to my company computer.