Hospital uses wireless LANs for school

Life

1 April 2005

A regular school classroom has been set up within the paediatric wing of Cork University Hospital. Here children can attend normal lessons conveyed to them on a PC linked to the hospital LAN via wireless technology. 

The educational content is stored on a number of servers on a network which can be accessed at any time by the children. For those children who cannot leave their beds, laptop computers are provided. The school has a regular Principal and one member of staff who supervise the children during lessons.

The network is based around a RoamAbout Access Point 2000 which is positioned in the ward. Simplified diagnostic tools help to identify signal strength and hence the optimum location for maximum data throughput. The Access Point is a full-functioning switch which connects to the wired LAN via standard UTP cable. 

The RoamAbout PC card, installed into the laptop or PC functions like any standard wired Ethernet card but uses radio frequencies (DSSS—Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum) instead of cable to establish the LAN connection. The LAN traffic serving the classroom has been segregated from regular hospital traffic by means of a VLAN. 

The use of mobile phones is prohibited on hospital premises but Wireless LAN’s have been certified as completely safe to use in a healthcare environment. The Department of Health is fully supportive of this initiative and has said it will extend this concept to all of the major hospitals in the country. 

Nurses and doctors in Cork University Hospital are also using wireless technology to update and manage patient records. When doing their rounds, they use a portable trolley that contains a laptop with a RoamAbout wireless LAN card. The trolley is adjustable to bed-side height so the doctor/nurse can talk to the patient while recording the information on the laptop. 

A specific application is used to house this information – Patient Information Management System (PIMS). Operating at 11Mbit/s, the wireless LAN can comfortably handle this traffic. The mobile PIMS reduces the risk of patient charts going missing and keeps a clear log of all treatments, medications and status of that particular patient. It also helps to increase operating efficiency within the hospital. 

The Southern Health Board has 40 buildings, dotted in or around Cork city and many are interconnected via wireless Point-to-Multipoint systems from Enterasys networks. The topography of the surrounding landscape with its peaks and valleys makes it suitable for wireless connectivity. The Enterasys RoamAbout system can offer 11Mbit/s connectivity to 5.5km using 14dB antennas. When combined with any third party 24dB antenna, distances of 40km at 11Mbit/s can be achieved. RoamAbout is an extremely easy technology to deploy for remote sites as well as a viable, cost-effective alternative to traditional leased lines.

Read More:


Back to Top ↑

TechCentral.ie