AN INTEGRATION OF HAND-HELD COMPUTERS, GPS DEVICES, AND GIS TO IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF EMS DATA SYSTEM

Abstract

This paper presents the development of an advanced tool to facilitate accident datacollection and analysis processes. An integration of three technologies: hand-held computers, GPS and GIS is proposed with objectives to replace cumbersome primitive processes, to make accident data-collection and analysis more standardized, less error-prone and, therefore, more efficient. Under a proposed concept, the hand-held computers would play a major role in recording non-spatial data, while a main function of GPS is a spatial data collector. GIS would be a versatile database management tool for other tasks including data retrieval, data analysis, and information distribution. In order to demonstrate the proposed concept, the EMS data system in Khon Kaen City, Thailand, was selected as a case study. The development is potentially useful as it can offer a means to facilitate EMS data collection as well as explore the new dimension for EMS data analysis.