While the federal emergency medical station at the shuttered Philadelphia-metro’s Glen Mills School has yet to receive its first patients during the COVID-19 crisis, those working and recuperating at the site will have an essential service to assist in care. High-speed network access is available thanks to Malvern-based (Pennsylvania) Rajant Corporation and State Senator Tom Killion (PA).
“Robust data service is critical to providing timely and effective care,” said Tim Boyce, Director of Emergency Services for Delaware County, which has responsibility for coordinating the build-out of the 85,000 square foot facility. “Rajant’s contribution of their Kinetic Mesh® solution and its installation ensures the nurses, doctors, and techs who will be treating patients will be able to use the technology to which they’ve become accustomed to deliver care.”
According to Rajant CEO Robert Schena, “Deployed at the Glen Mills School is a six BreadCrumb node network, which ties into the in-house Internet and boosts connection for 911 dispatch. The networking needs of these pop-up healthcare facilities require speed and flexibility. Rajant maximizes that flexibility and allows for the growth of critical medical applications as required. We are honored to work with such great servants to our community.”
Schena valued the donation of equipment and labor at $40,000. He credited Senator Tom Killion with coordinating and expediting the donation and installation.
“Senator Killion is a friend and well-acquainted with our company,” said Schena. “When we approached him, he immediately understood the need for private wireless networking at Glen Mills and made the calls that cut through the red tape we would have encountered if we had cold-called those in charge of setting up the site.”
Said Killion, “Rajant is a great corporate citizen, and I knew they would be eager to assist the agencies responsible. COVID-19 is an unprecedented public health emergency, but working together and supporting each other – as Rajant has done here – we will get through this.”
In Delaware County and across the globe, Rajant with its global distribution and integration partners have made immediately available this private wireless network for mobile field hospitals, pop-up health treatment shelters, COVID-19 testing facilities, and Small Business Administration (SBA) temporary loan centers (US-only).
Rajant’s “Emergency Response Rapid Deployment Kit” can be deployed in as little as 30-60 minutes, and provides backhaul and IoT connections as well as Wi-Fi access for triage care teams. Additionally, Rajant is the only wireless network manufacturer with a certification from the U.S. government for its highest level of encryption to protect mission-critical data, video, and voice communications.
The Glen Mills School will serve as a medical and dental facility with space dedicated for a transport airfield. Staffing professionals will be sourced from participating health care systems and supported by volunteers from across the region.
This facility will service Philadelphia-metro area patients who have not tested positive for COVID-19 but are being treated for low-acuity conditions at regional hospitals if that location is full treating COVID-19 patients.
Through the collaboration of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, National Guard, and the Delaware County Department of Emergency Services, the greater community has this alternative overflow facility to mitigate risk and protect those who are healthy, thus providing them with vital medical attention.