Logistic and medical support in mobile, isolated and disaster context

Development of information and communication technologies by satellites is favouring the development of new services for logistic and healthcare operations in isolated and mobile context when the ground telecommunications infrastructures are destroyed or not accessible. In the frame of the DELTASS project (ESA - ARTES 5 programme), engineers and medical doctors succeeded in developing equipment for logistic and medical support in mobile, isolated and disaster context. Technical and operational demonstrations of DELTASS concept were achieved during the last quarter of 2002 (visit the site: http://www.medes.fr/home_fr/telemedecine/teleconsultation/i_discare.html). The system is now available and the I-DISCARE project aims to have the results from the DELTASS project distributed to the operational users community first on a free basis and after on a commercial basis. Thanks to the ESA ARTES 3 programme, the target is to create a I-DISCARE Service Provider structure and initiate its activities. The I-DISCARE project has the ambition to reach this target by implementing a satellite-based support to logistic and healthcare for medical operations in isolated, mobile and disaster context, to demonstrate and validate the viability of this I-DISCARE service by defining a Pilot Utilisation Plan (PiUP) and to prepare and consolidate a Strategic Plan (SP) for the I-DISCARE service implementation. Beside the economical benefits for the users, the social benefits for citizens were also treated.