"We offer the residents of Pinellas County an all 'advanced life support' service. This means our fleet is equipped with the latest patient care, data and communications technology," said Jim Pennington, Sunstar's Director of Information Technology.
"We needed a service that would allow our data to be transmitted reliably over a single network connection. In Motion Technology provided this capability and allowed us to integrate other functions such as dispatch, billing, training and vehicle monitoring and tracking."
With a fleet of 68 Advanced Life Support vehicles staffed by more than 500 employees, Sunstar is a high volume, high performance EMS organization. Last year, Sunstar responded to more than 171,000 calls and transported more than 121,000 patients. Sunstar's Tampa Bay service area encompasses more than 280 square miles and has a population of nearly 940,000 - not including the area's 5.7 million annual visitors.
Sunstar's fleet is equipped with In Motion Technology's onBoard Mobile Gateway. Each Gateway creates a "vehicle area network" that integrates all data communications, including medical devices, patient care records, GPS, driver and safety monitoring and dispatch systems. It uses the best available wireless network to transmit information over a single, reliable network connection from these devices in the field to operations command and area hospitals.
When an In Motion Technology-equipped ambulance is sent on a call, it receives computer aided dispatch information through the Gateway; it has taken the fastest, satellite-guided route; critical driver and vehicle information is monitored in real time by operations command; and patient information is wirelessly transmitted to the ER in advance of arrival. This provides critical data to emergency personnel at the speed necessary to save lives.
"In Motion's onBoard Mobile Gateway enables our crews to focus on their mission, not their communications devices," said Jim Pennington. "We are a very demanding organization, and the gateway has exceeded our expectations. And because of its open architecture and expandability, it is future-proof and will enable us to seamlessly deploy the High Performance EMS technologies of tomorrow."
"In Motion Technology solutions have been deployed in more than 100 public safety fleets in North America, including many of the most demanding High Performance EMS organizations, such as Sunstar," said In Motion Technology CEO Kirk Moir. "Sunstar's choice of In Motion Technology for vehicle communications will improve emergency communications, operations and life-saving patient care."